Liam Payne was "winding people up" with his bizarre post-Oscars accent, a pal has claimed.

Liam Payne

Liam Payne

The One Direction star confused fans as he appeared with a mix of accents during an interview at the Academy Awards, and now Ant Middleton - who is a friend of Liam's - has suggested the singer was just putting it on.

Speaking on Good Morning Britain, host Ranvir Singh asked him what was going on with Liam's accent, to which Ant replied: "I don't know. I'll have to find out because I'm exactly like you. He went into about five accents, didn't he? Knowing Liam, he's quite a comedian," as presenter Ranvir questioned whether Liam might have been putting it on.

He added: "Yeah, he likes to wind a few people up but he's a great guy and I look forward to touching base with him."

Liam puzzled viewers with his accent change during a recent interview, which his former bandmate Harry Styles was asked about during a recent press round for his new single, As It Was.

He was asked by Capital FM's Sonny Jay: "We've seen some pretty wild accents from the 1D boys, and specifically from Mr Liam Payne at the Oscars red carpet, now I’ve got to ask you, have you sort of started to get a transatlantic accent from America?"

To which Harry replied: "Well don’t think in the time that I just got here, because I only got in yesterday for Coachella rehearsals, so in the space I’ve been here this trip I think I’ve survived. I think it's a little bit all over the place because I’m from up north and I’ve lived in London for 10 years and I've spent a lot of time in America and stuff and I think when I’m with Americans they don’t think I sound American at all. Then I think sometimes when I’m with English people they expect me to sound American, I don’t think I do, but I try and translate for whoever I’m with!"