Simon Cowell slams Liam Payne

Simon Cowell has seemingly hit out at Liam Payne.

The music mogul has praised the "loyalty" of the other members of One Direction, Louis Tomlinson, Harry Styles and Niall Horan, but failed to mention their bandmate, who recently signed a solo deal with Capitol Records.

He said: "We’re in touch with them all. The great thing about all these boys – well not all of them but most of them – they are incredibly loyal and you don’t always expect that.

"Niall, Harry, Louis – amazing."

Louis recently joined Simon on ‘America’s Got Talent’ as a guest judge and the 56-year-old star was very impressed with how the ‘History’ singer – who shot to fame after being put into 1D on ‘The X Factor’ in 2010 – fared with the contestants.

Speaking on a conference call to a number of publications, he said: "Louis is great! It was so funny, and so kind of odd, because he had auditioned for me five years ago, and now he’s sitting where I’m sitting, judging other people and doing it really well. I was really happy for him, he loved doing it."

Liam announced the news of his new record deal last week but said One Direction would always be his "family".

He revealed: "I’m really happy to have signed to such a prestigious label as Capitol Records UK. Capitol Records has an amazing history stretching right back before even Frank Sinatra and I’m really looking forward to becoming part of their story.

"One Direction will always be my family; I’m now excited to show what I can do as a solo artist."