Liam Payne was the last to be paid tribute to as the Royal Variety Performance celebrated the lives of celebrities we have lost over the last year (Image: ITV)

ITV Royal Variety Performance viewers in tears as heartbreaking tribute paid to Liam Payne

by · Birmingham Live

The Royal Variety Performance left viewers in tears as the show paid a special tribute to a long list of celebrities we had lost over the past year. Among the tributes were Charmed star Shannen Doherty, who died aged 53 from breast cancer, and Hairy Bikers star Dave Myers who passed away earlier this year after a battle with cancer.

TV doctor Michael Mosley was also featured after his tragic death aged 67 after going missing on the Greek island of Symi. Black and white photos of each of those who had passed were show on the screen with their names underneath.

The final tribute was to Wolverhampton-born former One Direction star Liam Payne who died aged 31 in October. He tragically fell from the third-floor balcony of a hotel in Buenos Aires while on holiday.

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Viewers were in tears at the moving tributes, and particularly as they were accompanied by a fitting song choice - Story of My Life by One Direction.

They took to social media, commenting on X: "Story of my Life is making me emotional. Liam Payne's death was devastating," adding a broken heart emoticon.

A second said: "Beautiful tribute," adding a crying emoticon, while a third commented: "What a lovely cover of Story of My Life," also adding a crying emoticon.

A fourth echoed: "Using 1D song aw." Another emotional fan wrote: "Liam Payne’s Death was ever so Devastating & heartbroken."

And another commented: "Storey of my life #RoyalVarietyPerformance."