Liam Payne “got better at cooking” during lockdown

Asked how he spent his time in lockdown, he said: “The main thing for me has been making sure I have a routine and setting mini goals like writing a song or making sure that I've been in touch with a family member that day.

“Like a lot of people, I watched a lot of TV, got better at cooking and worked out in the living room.

“I spent a large portion of my time writing and recording demos of songs on my laptop and phone.”

And Liam – who has four-year-old son Bear with former partner Cheryl – also got involved with some charity work, which he’s hoping to do more of in the coming months.

He exclusively told BANG Showbiz: “I also got involved with The Trussell Trust – the brilliant charity that provide food banks across the country. I’m looking forward to working with them more in the future.”

The former One Direction singer has been very grateful that technology has allowed him to stay connected and keep working and he thinks even when live performances return, artists will still embrace the chance to conduct virtual gigs.

He said: “I’ve really embraced tech over this past year. We shot and recorded the music video for my single with Alesso, ‘Midnight’ remotely and I did a whole series of livestream gigs over the winter.

“I just kept thinking how different all of our experiences of lockdown would be if that had happened even 10 years ago when tech wasn’t nearly as developed as today.

“I think there will be a return to in real life shows as soon as we can, but I think that will be alongside virtual entertainment and performances – they’re here to stay, I’m sure.

“The sheer volume of people you can reach via virtual shows and the accessibility it provides to people all over the world can’t be overlooked.”

Last weekend, the 26-year-old star delivered a live augmented reality (AR) real-time experience when he performed an exclusive EE BAFTA pre-show on the AR app, The Round, created using 5G, for fans to enjoy at home or on-the-go.

The platinum-selling artist then opened the EE BAFTA Film Awards with a dazzling performance that saw him duet with his own AR avatar, which was beamed on stage at the Royal Albert Hall using EE’s award-winning 5G network.

To create his AR avatar, Liam had to be filmed in a motion capture suit, which he admitted was a “crazy” experience.

He said: “Wearing a full motion capture suit was definitely a very new experience for me. And watching myself on a monitor moving and singing in sync was crazy – I couldn’t help but throw some weird poses.”

EE is giving fans world-wide the chance to relive Liam’s AR performance in their living rooms, gardens or parks, for one month through on The Round AR app at round.app.