Liam Payne is renamed Brian and asked for a tree
Grimmy and Chris spoke to Liam Payne while One Direction were touring in America, but the call began with a familiar piece of deliberate chaos. Chris guessed every possible member of the band except Liam, settling on “Brian” and continuing to use the invented name even after Liam had joined in.
Liam explained that the band were preparing for a Fairfax show and had only just begun the American run. Grimmy and Chris became far more interested in what the group could demand backstage now that they were playing arenas.
Their suggestions included a living tree, specifically not a tiny ornamental one, plus a waterfall and a flock of sheep. Liam agreed to try the tree request, while the pair treated it as a useful test of what global pop success could actually buy.
The conversation ranged through tour-bus laundry, Louis’s feet and the practical problem of living with four other people on the road. Liam took the teasing in good humour, even when the presenters proposed calling Zayn at 3.30am the following morning.
The interview gave the cover week a properly big guest without making the programme more polished. Grimmy and Chris turned a routine One Direction chat into a discussion about rider trees and imaginary bandmate Brian, exactly the sort of distraction Scott’s audience expected.


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