Liam Payne has apologised to those who were offended by a song on his debut solo album, which was accused by some critics of “festishing bisexual women”.

The former One Direction singer released LP1 last year, featuring the controversial song Both Ways, which made headlines for all the wrong reasons due to its lyrical content.

During the album cut, Liam is heard singing: “Lovin’ the way that she’s turning you on, switching the lanes like a Bugatti Sport, nothing but luck that she got me involved, yeah.

“Flipping that body, go head, I go tails, sharing that body like it’s our last meal.”

He then continues: “She said we’re young and we’re stupid, she said, ‘come on, boy, let’s do this’, make every day my birthday, let’s celebrate, like oh my gosh, she do things you won’t believe.”

Addressing the backlash for the first time, Liam told the Daily Star: “I am sorry to anyone who got offended by certain songs or different things on the album, for sure.

“It was never my intention with any of the writing or things I was doing. I was just challenging myself in different areas.”

He added: “Looking back on it now, it was just a moment in time for me.”

Elsewhere in the interview, Liam admitted that making his first album was a “confusing time”, stating: “I was going through a lot of personal things that I didn’t speak about a lot; with song writing, stage fright and being scared of the future.”

Before Both Ways came under fire last year, Liam described the song as his favourite on the album, suggesting the lyrics are about being open-minded in the “world of ‘love is love’”.

“People [are] becoming much more understanding about the way love is,” he said. “And rightly so.”

Liam also insisted the song is not based on his own experiences, adding: “I don’t know who in the studio had actually been in this situation, because I certainly haven’t, but it was an interesting song to write.”

A spokesperson for Liam declined to comment on the controversy when contacted by HuffPost UK shortly after the song’s release.

Controversy aside, Liam’s first solo album didn’t fare too well with critics, receiving one and two-star reviews in The Guardian, NME and The Independent.