Ant Middleton opened up about working with his "good friend" who was "misunderstood". The former Celebrity SAS: Who Dares Wins star, 44, spoke exclusively to Daily Star before Liam's tragic death, ahead of his new book release which is titled When quizzed on his past TV career, he opened up about working with the One Direction member who tragically fell to his death last week after falling from a hotel balcony. Ant told us: "I loved doing my Straight Talking show, Liam Payne was a guest, where we tested celebrities one on one more on an extreme adventure level, pushing them on that side of things.

"Liam was a great guy, a very bright guy, you just have to imagine what he's been through with that childhood stardom, being in One Direction and how huge they were, then the high and the lows with that. "He is another good friend of mine and a great guy. Maybe he is a little misunderstood but the media will portray you the way they want to, I have nothing but praise for that guy.

"I was with the celebs on that show for three or four days and I got to get in there and see what they are all about. Not in a super aggressive way, I never play with people's minds or emotions because that is a dangerous game to play but I always try to make them realise what they are capable of. Hopefully, I can do some more shows like that in the future.

" Best-selling author Ant has now added another to his roster and used his experience in the military to help readers apply his 52 lessons to their dail.