Auditions for Simon Cowell‘s Britain’s Got Talent were postponed Thursday (Oct. 17) in light of Liam Payne‘s shocking death the day prior.
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The decision was confirmed by Applause Store, which handles ticketing for the talent competition show, on X the morning auditions were set to take place in England. “Due to the tragic passing of Liam Payne, BGT has decided to postpone today’s auditions in Blackpool,” the company wrote. “We apologise for any inconvenience this may cause.”
According to the audition venue’s website, Thursday was supposed to have been the final of three back-to-back days’ worth of auditions in the city. At press time, the show has not indicated when the auditions will be rescheduled.
Cowell launched Britain’s Got Talent in 2007, three years after he started the U.K. version of The X Factor. The late “Strip That Down” singer — who died at 31 years old Wednesday (Oct. 16) after falling from the third floor of a hotel in Buenos Aires, Argentina — got his start in 2010 on the latter talent program, which placed him in the group One Direction with fellow contestants-turned-bandmates Harry Styles, Niall Horan, Zayn Malik and Louis Tomlinson. The band went on to have four No. 1 albums on the Billboard 200 and six top 10 hits on the Billboard Hot 100 before parting ways in 2015, after which Payne embarked on a solo career.