Lara Spencer and daughter left ‘heartbroken’ as GMA host shares photo with Liam Payne

Lara Spencer and her daughter, Katharine, have paid tribute to One Direction star Liam Payne, sharing a photo alongside the late singer on Instagram. 

The GMA host confessed they were distraught by the news of his death at the age of 31 and posted a throwback image of Katharine as a child beaming with the band. 

She wrote: “My girl and I are heartbroken. Rest in peace Liam.”

In the photo, Liam was front and center with Katharine one side of him and a friend the other. The rest of the band also posed for the camera in what appeared to be a backstage snapshot. 

The British musician was found dead on Wednesday after falling from the third floor of a hotel in Buenos Aires, Argentina, according to local media reports.

According to leading local newspapers La Nacion and Clarin, police arrived at the scene, but sadly, by the time emergency responders attended to Liam, it was too late. Ambulance workers confirmed the singer’s death after finding him in an interior patio of the hotel.

He was said to have “extremely serious,” injuries before medics confirmed his death in a statement to the Associated Press. 

“Unfortunately, he had injuries that were incompatible with life, as a result of his fall, so we had to confirm his death, there was no possibility of resuscitation,” Alberto Crescenti said.

HELLO!  reached out for comment after the tragic news was made public. 

© Instagram

Liam wasn’t only a singer, but a dad too. He shared a son, Bear, seven, with Girls Aloud star, Cheryl.

During a radio interview in 2017 shortly after Bear’s birth, Liam said: “The best part about being a dad is when [your children] look at you. They don’t just look at you, they look into your soul, they look right through you.” 

© Matt Baron/Shutterstock

“He’s like mini me and he has [Cheryl’s] eyes. He’s smashed it on the eye front, I look at him and think ah, I love him.” 

More tributes have flooded in for Liam. The mother of Liam’s former bandmate Harry Styles, shared her sadness on social media. Alongside a broken heart emoji, she penned: “Just a boy …”

© Karwai Tang

The Rolling Stones star Ronnie Wood also shared his sadness. “I am shocked and saddened to hear of the death of Liam Payne,” the musician wrote on X. “It was a pleasure to work with him on our X Factor performance. God bless Liam, thinking of all his loved ones. He will be dearly missed.”

Paris Hilton also paid tribute on X, calling the news of Liam’s death “so upsetting”. “Sending love and condolences to his family and loved ones,” she wrote. “RIP my friend.”