Liam Payne re-ignites the One Direction reunion flame with collaboration joke

Here we go again 👀

Author: Georgie HollandPublished 12th Apr 2021
Last updated 12th Apr 2021

Liam Payne has stoked the One Direction reunion fire as he joked that he would "love to do a collaboration" with his ex-bandmates. Hosting an Instagram Live ahead of his historic augmented reality performance at the BAFTAs, Liam teased his fans with the confession.

Speaking to his fans ahead of the performance, Liam joked, "I’d love to do a collaboration with Niall, Zayn, Harry and Louis. Actually they’re all here behind this curtain!"

To many fans disappointment, the 'Strip That Down' singer then laughed, "No, they're not really," before joking, "We could have put them in virtually, though!"

Despite the lighthearted remark clearly being a joke, it has sent One Direction fans into a complete tizzy at the thought of their favourite boys potentially getting back together for the ULTIMATE reunion.

Jumping into the comments on the live-stream, one fan said, 'YESSSS' (sic), whilst another fan wrote, 'IM SCREAMING' (sic).

This isn't the first time that Liam has sent fans into a One Direction reunion meltdown, admitting last year, "We've got a 10-year anniversary coming up so we've all been speaking together a lot over the last few weeks, which has been really nice."

Fans, of course, went wild over the remark, linking it to a comment Harry Styles had made just days earlier, suggesting that "I don't know if a Zoom call is the reunion that we had in mind." 👀

Although there's no official news on any kind of reunion between the boys, we've got our fingers crossed that it'll be added to the 2021 roadmap soon.

Check out everything we know about a possible reunion so far...

Harry Styles talks about a Zoom reunion

In April 2020, as the nation were in lockdown due to the Coronavirus, Harry spoke to SiriusXM Hits 1, jokingly admitting he didn't expect the 1D reunion to be over a Zoom call.


He said: "I don't know if a Zoom call is the reunion that we had in mind."

Liam Payne sent fans into meltdown

Just days later, Liam Payne sent Directioners into complete meltdown when he revealed a number of emails had been forwarded, admitting it was great for the boys to 'connect' again.


Liam said: "We've got a 10-year anniversary coming up so we've all been speaking together a lot over the last few weeks, which has been really nice."

#OneDirectionReunion trends on Twitter

Not long after Liam's interview, eagle-eyed fans noticed Harry, Louis, Liam and Niall had all followed former member Zayn Malik on Twitter, resulting in #OneDirectionReunion to start trending.


However, after further inspection, fans were quick to point out that they'd followed Zayn for a while, making it a bit of a false alarm!

Was new One Direction music on the cards?

Also in April, American showbiz site Page Six reported that One Direction could release new music for their 10th anniversary in July 2020, as well as a TV special!

Niall sends fans wild on Instagram Live

During an Instagram Live, Niall teased Directioners by touching his hair when a fan asked him to if the reunion rumours were true. Hmm.

Liam Payne talked with James Corden about a reunion

Liam chatted with The Late Late Show host James Corden, where he confessed he'd been in recent contact with both Louis Tomlinson and Niall Horan!


He told James he'd enjoyed a 'beautiful' FaceTime with Niall. Aww!

Louis Tomlinson 'tells off' Liam Payne for revealing too much

After Liam got a little excited and started to dish out too much information, the singer revealed during an Instagram Live with Alesso that Louis had 'told him off' for revealing the plans.

Niall Horan shuts down reunion rumours

With July getting closer, Niall Horan broke the hearts of 1D fans across the world in May when he seemingly shut down all talk of a 2020 reunion.


Speaking to his friend Jamie Redknapp on Redknapp's Home Fixture, Niall said, "There was a bit of talk about it because in July it's ten years since the band got together, so everyone was waiting to see if anything was going to happen.


'We've been chatting about it, little bits and pieces that we can do, but nothing in terms of getting the band back together, so for now, no."

10th anniversary plans

Despite many holding out for an actual reunion, 1D launched a special website called '10 Years of One Direction', which went active on Thursday 23rd July, the official date of their anniversary.


The website went through the band's amazing career timelines, from meeting on The X Factor, to going their separate ways as solo artists. As well as this, a load of old content was visible for fans, including archived TV performances, behind-the-scenes videos, music videos and artwork!


A special 10-year celebration video was made for YouTube, which brought a tear to the eye as it highlights 1D's global success over the last decade.

Fans thought Harry could feature on Niall's album

Fans thought they'd spotted some similarities between Niall's album and a music video that Harry was spotted filming.

Harry Styles posted a pic of him wearing a One Direction T-shirt

Harry Styles posted a pic of him wearing a One Direction T-shirt. The photo appeared as an Instagram Story, but was quickly deleted by the singer. Of course it wasn't long before fans shared the photo across social media and reunion rumours started.
Harry later told fans at his Auckland gig: "I guess some of us have secrets! Maybe, maybe like some people, you chose to keep it to yourself and maybe one day, you'll like accidentally post it to your Instagram followers."

Liam Payne 'desperate' for a reunion

According to a source speaking to OK!, Liam Payne really wants a One Direction reunion and is trying to reach out to the other band members.

Now read:

Liam Payne announces augmented reality BAFTAs performance

One Direction: Here's how they've changed through the years

Liam Payne praises ex Cheryl admitting they are 'closer than they've ever been'

How to listen to Northsound 1:

For great music, brilliant banter and incredible competitions tune into Northsound 1 on 96.9, 97.6 or 103.0 FM, online, on our Northsound app, your DAB digital radio, or say ‘Play Northsound 1’ on your Smart Speaker. We give you the biggest hits from the world’s hottest artists. You’ll find new favourites every day and hear the songs you've missed from the last few years.