Building The Band judge Nicole Scherzinger explains why they chose to release the show after Liam Payne's passing

Building the Band season 1 premiered on Netflix on July 9, 2025. The new reality singing show introduced 50 singers and put them in separate sound booths as they analyzed their fellow contestants to possibly form a band with them and go on to win the show.

This show marked the last project for late singer Liam Payne, who passed away in October 2024 aged 31. He appeared as one of the guest judges for the show to analyze the newly-formed bands' performance and help them improve.

On the July 15, 2025, episode of Late Night with Seth Meyers, Liam's fellow Building The Band judge Nicole Scherzinger commented on the former One Direction member's appearance on the show. She explained that they chose to continue with the show after the Little Thing singer's passing because they received blessing from his family.

She emphasized that they wouldn't have moved forward without the Payne family's blessing and revealed that they were even present on set during filming.

"We would have never, continued to, you know, share the show unless we had his family's blessings. And they were actually there in the process with it while we filmed it," Nicole said.

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Nicole Scherzinger opnes up about Liam Payne's appearance on Building The Band

When Seth Meyers asked Nicole Scherzinger during her appearance on Late Night with Seth Meyers to promote Building The Band, if it was "bittersweet" to watch the show after Liam Payne's death, she admitted that it was. She noted that the show had been dedicated to Liam and expressed how proud they all were of him, adding that he had an "amazing time" during filming.

The Don't Cha singer went on to say that they had shared a lot of fun moments together, describing the Story of My Life singer as someone with "a beautiful, kind soul and heart."

"We've dedicated the show to Liam. We're so proud of him. He had such an amazing time. We had so much fun doing the show together. And he's such a beautiful, kind soul and heart," she said.

Despite the bittersweet feeling, Nicole shared that she was excited for people to see Liam shine on the show. She pointed out that Building The Band was a full circle moment for both of them. Notably, she was one of the people responsible for the formation of One Direction on The X Factor UK in 2010 when Liam, Harry Styles, Louis Tomlinson, Niall Horan, and Zayn Malik, who had auditioned as solo artists, were selected to form the boy band.

The former Pussycat Dolls member shared that she believed that his experience in competing on a show not too dissimilar from Building the Band made Liam the "perfect person" for the role, as he was able to use his experience to help the newly-formed bands.

"It's really cool. We've come full circle. I mean, especially with Liam and I from X Factor to One Direction. And he's walked this path, so he's the perfect person to be able to, you know, help people in this way, to be able to give back. And he loved it. He really believed in the bands and the show," Nicole said.

During the interview, Nicole also reflected on her early days. She shared that she had always known of her love for singing and her passion for performing, but she didn't have the confidence. She added that if she could impart some advice to her younger self, she would tell her to "believe in [herself] more."

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Building the Band episodes 1 to 7 are available on Netflix. Episodes 8, 9, and 10 will premiere July 23.

Edited by Ankita Barat