Liam Payne Strictly tribute wanted by JB Gill as he shares heartbreaking insight into friendship

Strictly Come Dancing star JB Gill has revealed that he would like to dance to one of Liam Payne's songs as a tribute to the star who lost his life earlier this month

JB Gill has revealed that he wants to dance to one of Liam Payne's songs as a tribute to the star, who died earlier this month.

The JLS singer, 37, who first met Liam in 2008 after they auditioned for the X Factor, said during a Strictly Come Dancing press event that it would be an "incredible tribute." Liam fell to his death earlier this month from the third floor balcony of his hotel room in Buenos Aires, Argentina. He suffered severe injuries, which resulted in his devastating death.

JB, who is partnered with professional dancer Amy Dowden, said: "If there’s an opportunity, I’d love to do it [dance to one of his songs]. It'd be an incredible tribute. He was a very good friend, we literally met him when he was starting his journey out. It was before he had the success of One Direction, because he was just a solo artist in the same year that we were in the X factor and got onto the live shows. I just remember him following the boys and I around."

The married father of two continued to tell the Daily Mail: "He wanted to be in JLS, to be honest. But when he got knocked out at boot camp, we said 'just keep going, keep working hard, you'll get your chance'. I'm obviously glad that he was able to do that."

He went on to say: "I don't know all the ins and outs... But one of the things I've taken as a silver lining is that he was actually able to do what he set out to do, which was to sing and share his voice with the world. I think it's something that anyone who knew him, even his fans, will be able to take away from this incredibly sad situation."

The downside of the music industry has been a major subject of discussion among a number of other stars including former X Factor stars such as Rebecca Ferguson and Katie Waissel. And now, JB has also waded in on the pressures of being in the spotlight as a member of a boy band. But the star claimed that being older, played a huge part in not succumbing to the pitfalls of fame.

He continued to explain: "When we were going through that process (of the X-Factor), we were slightly older than the One Direction boys. I'd already been to university, I'd already had a bit of world experience. And that makes a massive difference." And he has called for the showbiz industry to take better care of artists, especially young stars.

He went on to say: "I don't personally disagree with having a child star, but I do disagree with not being able to nurture them and protect them, and especially if they're individual. The relationship we [JLS] have with each other, we look after each other. That doesn't always happen in every group."

He added: "It's not always down to the members, but certainly to the people who are managing and the labels and the people who are kind of championing the group and championing the people who are on that stage, you have to look after them. It's one thing I've never really understood about the industry, because artists sometimes are seen as commodities or assets, or whatever you want to call it.

He then said: "And it does sound bad, but at the end of the day, it makes no sense not to protect that. So we have to definitely change the way that we approach certain things and how we look after people." And being a parent himself, has given JB another perspective to the pressures of fame as both his children made their acting debut in a BBC drama, two years ago.

He said: "Not every parent has that knowledge or that understanding or that background. For those who are seasoned professionals within the industry, it falls to them to be able to protect and look after the people who are going to be on that stage."

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