‘Building the Band’ Season 2 Hopes; Producers on Liam Payne ‘Legacy’

Producers of Netflix reality show Building the Band are opening up on filming with guest judge Liam Payne and discussing the chances of a season two.

The contest — where 50 musicians form six bands without ever seeing each other — has landed in the streamer’s global top 10 shows since it dropped on the platform July 9, boasting Nicole Scherzinger, Kelly Rowland and host A.J. Tracey among its celebrity panel.

Payne also stars as a judge on the show, filmed before his untimely death at just 31 in October 2024. Building the Band producers and Payne’s grieving family were weighing Payne’s inclusion, and ultimately decided to move forward with the former One Direction member remaining in the show made by Remarkable Entertainment (part of Banijay U.K.).

“Liam was conscientious, he was gracious and at times nervous, because I think he wanted to get it right for the bands,” executive producer Alison Holloway tells The Hollywood Reporter. “There was no question that he saw his own experience up there on our stage, and he felt he could give [the contestants] real advice based on where he had come from.”

Holloway says the cast and crew became a tight-knit group on Building the Band, and Payne went above and beyond on set. “We saw a young man who had his whole life ahead of him. He was in a good place. He was happy to work. He was excited by the project, and he loved the organic moments in the studio, connecting with the live studio audience,” she continues, discussing a moment in the recent season finale where the series paid tribute.

The final episode — where (spoilers!) girl group 3Quency were crowned winners — included a sweet behind-the-scenes moment of Payne, along with the words: “In loving memory of Liam Payne” as One Direction hit “What Makes You Beautiful” began blaring through speakers on set.

“When his life was cut short,” Holloway adds, “we were in in disbelief, and yet we knew that we had something that would be a wonderful legacy. And his family agreed. And when you look at those moments when he genuinely smiles on camera, he’s really in the moment and enjoying it. Just hang on to that smile.”

Remarkable Entertainment’s managing director Cat Lawson concurs, telling THR that the Building the Band team could only sing Payne’s praises. “Our experience with Liam was him coming not just on time but early, huge professionalism, ready to go, done his research, joyful, happy, loving life, loving being with the crew, loving being with the contestants.”

“He became family to all of us,” Lawson says, adding that extra care was taken to make sure that Payne’s joy was brought to the screen. She said his family, who often came to set and watched the singer shoot and perform, were heavily consulted about his inclusion in the series. “It was really important that the family really led the way and made the decision… They’ve just gone through the most traumatic experience, and it wouldn’t have been right for us to [air] the show without their blessing.”

Building the Band was born out of a brainstorm between Lawson and Simon Crossley, Remarkable’s director of development. Both are obsessed with pop music, she explains, and have been trying to crack the singing show genre for some time.

“What we realized when we looked at the U.S. Billboard charts and [bands] are just not there. And obviously One Direction were huge, and Little Mix were huge here in the U.K., but there hadn’t really been a breakthrough American band for a really long time,” she says.

The premise of making the contestants form bands without ever seeing what each other looked like was all about chemistry. “It was absolute magic,” Holloway says of the early test they did, where singers were separated by tents.

“The looks thing becomes a secondary piece of it,” Lawson says. “Our thinking was about the connection and the authenticity. You might have to be on a tour bus with these guys for 20 years — you’re all going to get older, you’re all going to get grayer, but what you can’t change is whether you guys get on.”

When it came to getting Scherzinger, Payne, Rowland and Tracey on board, the thinking was simple: “Wouldn’t it be amazing if everybody had been in that boy band, girl band experience?” Lawson recalls asking.

What transpired was a real p***ion for supporting these aspiring singers through their bid for the big time. Lawson says: “Sometimes you work on shows and talent walks in, walks out. It wasn’t like that [on Building the Band]. They were happy to spend time giving advice, which was just lovely.” Holloway adds: “They were all truly invested… I think it is captured in our show, and I think that’s what people are responding to.”

Lawson and Holloway tell THR that they are still chasing a season two commission. Season one has already built the foundations for their young stars to release singles — coming August, says Lawson — and the hope is that one day, these show-made bands will go on tour. “There’s noise around this show. And actually, I was just speaking to Netflix earlier, and I was [saying] you can see already there’s [social media] tribes forming around the bands,” adds Lawson.

Holloway already has “a wonderful piece of tape” with a brilliant singer for a season two. “He turned out to be six foot four, but for the first 30 seconds, all I heard was his voice and he is ready to go for the next season. For singers out there, it has opened a door, a new adventure. And with that, hopefully will come a wash of new talent, because it exists.”

All episodes of Building the Band are available to stream now on Netflix.