MUMBAI: Singer Liam Payne says fame made him "nuts", and he had to take time out of the spotlight to recollect his thoughts and become "himself" again.

"Fame made me a little bit nuts and distracted me a lot from the person I was. And it pissed me off in the end, because it was like, 'You could have been this guy, but you chose to do this.' Nobody really knew anything about me. I put on a front that was not really me," Payne told #Legend magazine.

The Bedroom Floor hitmaker chose to take some time away from the spotlight before pursuing a solo career when One Direction announced their hiatus in 2015. He says he is now back to his old self once again, reports femalefirst.co.uk.

"But now that I've had my time away, you slowly, naturally become the person you were before you started, but with a lot more knowledge. So I feel a lot more myself than I ever did before, rather than being a part of something and having a part to play or treading on eggshells around someone," he said.

Payne added: "When I sat back and thought about all the silly things I might have said and done wrong - not that I have any regrets, because I think whatever happened, happened - I think that now is the time to not be that person.

"I remember the day we finished, because of the place I was in, I was quite happy that we had a break. I said to the person with me at the time, 'Thank god I do not have to play that person again for a long time.' It was exhausting and I could not keep up with myself."

(Source: IANS)