Eager to make the transition from silent boybander to silent walking six-pack, One Direction star Liam Payne is set to appear on the cover of gay lifestyle mag Attitude.

The 22 year-old was forced to deny he was homophobic last month after a video of him appearing to discount the existence of lesbians surfaced. Or lesbian 1D fans, at least.

“This is my favourite song off the last album,” said Payne in the video, which was filmed at one of the band’s gigs before being posted to Twitter. “And it is about trying to find that number one woman of your life, which none of you can relate to, ’cause most of you are girls. Except for the boys in here, you know what I’m talking about.’

Some fans responded angrily, querying whether Payne knew what a lesbian is. Payne took to the social media site to respond to the controversy, posting “I am in no way shape or form homophobic that’s a ridicules [sic] thing to say and I’m not here to offend people so take it as you will”.

“It’s the first solo shoot and interview any of the members of One Direction have done, their first gay press shoot and I think the only magazine promo for their new album,” a spokesperson for the magazine told the Daily Mirror. He also confirmed that the issue would feature two collectable covers.

“The news that the band are taking a hiatus or splitting up, whichever version you believe, means that this story should be global news and I’ll be surprised if it doesn’t become our biggest-selling issue ever.”

The issue will be released on September 11.