“We are clearly great dancers in One Direction,” Liam Payne joked about his group’s performance during the television recording that “didn’t make the cut.”

Liam Payne pokes fun at One Direction’s dancing in ‘Building the Band’ debut

One Direction member Liam Payne, a judge on “Building the Band,” died at 31, just weeks after filming the Netflix competition series last fall. “Band” marks his final appearance.

As Liam Payne gave feedback to the next generation of boy bands and girl groups during his guest judging debut on Netflix’s “Building The Band,” he took a moment to poke fun at his own former boy band, One Direction.

After the newly formed group Midnight ‘Til Morning sang a rousing rendition of the Goo Goo Dolls’ “Iris” in Episode 7 (now streaming), Payne dinged the guys for their unchoreographed, helter-skelter movement on the stage.

“We’re in power ballad. We’re looking for air grabs. Boy band central, baby,” Payne told the four men. He added that Shane Appell’s back flip “felt a tiny little bit misplaced.”

When Appell explained they were more instrumentalists than dancers, Payne replied that One Direction had stage presence while subverting the expectations of an earlier generation’s dance-machine boy bands (like series host AJ McLean’s Backstreet Boys).

“We’re amazing dancers, obviously, in One Direction. It’s what we’re known for,” he cheekily told Appell. “George Michael was amazing at controlling an arena from just standing center and literally just doing that.”

Payne then stood up from his seat and swayed his hips confidently side to side in demonstration.

Payne, alongside Destiny’s Child’s Kelly Rowland and Nicole Scherzinger from the Pussycat Dolls, watched six newly formed groups perform in front of a live audience for the first time and delivered constructive criticism, mostly centered on urging more onstage chemistry.

“You’ve really got to come out on stage and claim your moment. Make a moment with these people; make a moment with us, (and) make a moment with yourselves,” he told the contestants.

“Building The Band,” Payne’s last TV appearance, was taped in September 2024, just weeks before his death. The 31-year-old singer died Oct. 16 after falling from a third-floor balcony at a Buenos Aires hotel. As part of One Direction – which Scherzinger helped form on the U.K. version of “The X-Factor” in 2010 – Payne broke sales, Billboard chart and streaming records.

“Through his presence we see his deep love for music and his unwavering commitment to helping others find their voice,” McLean said in a message that opened “Band’s” first episode. “It’s through that spirit that we dedicate this series to Liam and his family.”