Liam Payne Reveals He’s 6 Months Sober After Secret 100-Day Rehab Stint: ‘The Party’s Over’

Liam Payne opened up in a candid new video and admitted he was ‘in bad shape’ before going to rehab.

Liam Payne shared an eight-minute video on YouTube on Saturday, July 8, and in that video, he revealed he’s now six months sober after spending 100 days in a Louisiana rehab facility. “I just kind of feel like I’ve got more of a grip on life and everything that was getting away from me, I just feel like I’ve got more of a handle on it,” the former One Direction singer, 29, said. “I just needed to take a little bit of time out for myself actually because I kind of became somebody who I didn’t really recognize anymore. And I’m sure you guys didn’t either. I was in bad shape up until that point and I was really happy to kind of put a stopper to life and work.”

Liam also revealed that he disconnected from everyone while away at rehab so he could focus on his recovery. “I didn’t have my phone for nearly 100 days. I didn’t connect with the outside world at all. Upon leaving, the hardest part was turning the phone back on because it was a little bit scary,” he said.

Liam explained that the process “worked to a certain extent,” however, he still had to deal with a few things on his own. And while he was in in Dubai at a Hans Zimmer concert in January, he fully realized he wanted to stop drinking. “I watching this beautiful symphony, I was having a drink, and I thought, ‘You know what, this isn’t really serving me at all, I don’t really need this right now’. It’s the first time I’ve ever put a drink down and gone to someone else, ‘You finish this, I don’t need this right now.’ And I haven’t picked one up since, which has almost been 6 months, which I’m excited about,” he explained. “It’s good, it’s good to be in this position. I definitely don’t need those things anymore. The party’s over.”

Now, Liam’s ” trying to get to know this new guy” that he’s become. “I’m very lucky, thanks to you guys at home and thanks to this wonderful life that I have, that I had a vehicle to do that, which is music,” he said.

And thought his sobriety, Liam has also been reflecting on his past and feeling bad for things he’s said. For example, during a June 2022 interview Logan Paul, Liam said he “disliked” his former One Direction bandmate, Zayn Malik. “A lot of what I said came from the wrong place,” Liam said on July 8. “I was so angry at what was going on around me and instead of taking a look inwards I decided to look outwards at everybody else and I just think yeah I took it out on everybody else, which is just wrong, really.”

After One Direction — which consisted of Liam, Zayn, Harry Styles, Niall Horan and Louis Tomlinson — went on hiatus in 2015, the guys went on to launch solo careers. “My own frustrations with my own career and where I kind landed, I took shots at everybody else which is wrong,” Liam explained in his YouTube video on Saturday. “So obviously, I want to apologize for that because obviously, that is not me. …You don’t really realize the impact that your words might have on other people.”

Despite what any of them have said about each other in the past, Liam said his former bandmates “have really stuck by” him when he needed it the most. “When I needed them most, they kind of came to my rescue, even Zayn as well,” he said.

Elsewhere in his reveal, Liam thanked his ex Cheryl Cole and their 6-year-old son Bear for “giving me a little bit of freedom to go and get well in that moment, because I had to.” He also revealed when fans can see him on the road again, so make sure you watch the full video above.

If you or someone you know is struggling with substance abuse, please contact the SAMHSA helpline at 1-800-662-HELP.