Liam Payne’s Music Competition Series Still Moving Forward at Netflix

Last summer, the late Liam Payne filmed a reality competition series for Netflix called Building the Band, where he served as a guest judge alongside Nicole Scherzinger and Kelly Rowland. When Payne died after a fall in Argentina on October 16, 2024, the show’s fate was uncertain until January 30, when the streamer confirmed they’d be moving forward with the series. The Hollywood Reporter shares that Netflix’s VP of nonfiction series and sports Brandon Riegg explained that Netflix has ongoing conversations with Payne’s family about how to handle the singer’s death in relation to the show. Vulture has reached out to Netflix for comment.

Hosted by Backstreet Boys’s AJ McLean, Building the Band is a music competition where contestants compete and build their own band without ever seeing each other until their first live performance— a Love Is Blind meets X-Factor type of show, it seems. There’s no concrete premiere date announced but the show is included in Netflix’s 2025 slate of releases.