Why did Adrian Chiles wear a West Brom coat to Liam Payne’s funeral?

Adrian Chiles was spotted wearing a West Bromich Albion coat at Liam Payne's funeral - and there is a key reason for this.

The late singer's funeral took place on Wednesday (20 November) where fellow One Direction bandmates Harry Styles, Louis Tomlinson, Niall Horan and Zayn Malik and X Factor judge Simon Cowell were among the attendees as well as his family including his former partner Cheryl Tweedy and their seven-year-old son Bear.

The 31-year-old died on 16 October after he fell from the third-floor balcony of a hotel room in Buenos Aires, Argentina.

Traditionally, funeralgoers wear formal attire for the occasion, but Chiles drew attention when he turned up wearing a West Bromwich Albion football coat to the service.

But this was actually a sweet gesture from the presenter who bonded with Payne over football and their mutual support for the EFL Championship team West Brom.

According to Chiles, their friendship goes way back to the early X Factor days of Payne's career which is where One Direction was formed.

“I got to know him when he first did X Factor," the 57-year-old told the BBC.

“He came up to me and said ‘up the Albion’ – he was a West Brom fan. Just as a sign as to how massive he was, I remember we snuck him into a Boxing Day game and I think his mum and dad came and sat with me.

“But we managed to secrete our man up in the commentary gantry so he didn’t get bothered. Then a friend of mine texted me to ask ‘why are West Brom trending number one on Twitter?’ I went, ‘well it could be because Liam Payne is here and he tweeted he was here and the whole world went mad for it.’”

People on social media who learned of Chiles' connection to Payne praised him for his tribute to the late star.

One person wrote: "Today was Liam Payne's funeral and Adrian Chiles turned up in a West Brom jacket as Liam Payne was a massive baggies fan. A really nice touch."

"People laughing at Adrian Chiles wearing a WBA coat when actually it’s the sweetest thing when you realise Liam Payne supported WBA," another person said.

Someone else added: "Got a lot of time for Adrian Chiles going to Liam Payne’s funeral in a West Brom coat given their mutual love of the team."

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