Liam Payne and fellow singer Cheryl might have had a fairly short-lived relationship, however, their days of knowing each other dated back many years prior.
Tragically, One Direction star Liam has died aged 31 after falling from his hotel balcony in Buenos Aires on October 16.
Here, we take a look at when he and Cheryl first met, how their relationship blossomed, the “controversial” age gap and the aftermath of their split.
2008: Cheryl and Liam Payne first meet when he was 14
Back in 2008, when Cheryl was a judge on The X Factor, Liam auditioned for the show as a solo artist. He sang Frank Sinatra’s Fly Me to the Moon.
Clearly crushing on Cheryl at the time, the then 14-year-old cheekily winked at Cheryl during his audition. The Girls Aloud star saw potential in Liam’s singing abilities at the time, praising his talent while expressing that he was “really cute”.
At the time, Cheryl was married to her first husband, footballer Ashley Cole.
2010: Liam returns to The X Factor
Liam made it to the next stage of the competition but was later cut and didn’t make the live shows.
Two years later in 2010, Liam returned to The X Factor and gave being a solo artist another shot. However, he was put into a band which would become One Direction.
Cheryl was still a judge on the show and saw Liam’s career blossom in real time.
2016: Liam and Cheryl begin dating
One month following her divorce from second husband, Jean-Bernard Fernandez-Versini, rumours suggested Cheryl was dating Liam in February 2016, which soon proved to be true.
In May 2016, the pair confirmed their relationship by making their red carpet debut at the Global Gift Gala in Paris.
At the ceremony, Cheryl was honoured with the Global Gift Philanthropist Award, which Liam gushed about via his X account.
“So proud of her tonight such a special award #GlobalGiftGala,” he wrote while attaching selfie of him and Cheryl.
However, their 10-year age gap did raise some eyebrows.
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March 2017: Liam and Cheryl welcome a son Bear
After much speculation whether Cheryl was pregnant or not, the pair revealed they had welcomed a son, Bear, in March 2017.
“On Wednesday 22nd March Liam and I became parents to an incredibly beautiful, healthy baby boy, weighing 7lb 9 and looking like a dream,” Cheryl informed her Instagram followers.
“Although he still doesn’t have a name he is already stealing hearts. We are all madly in love and overwhelmingly happy with our little arrival. Happy Mother’s Day to all the mothers around the world. A day that now has a different meaning to me forever.”
Liam also took to his account to announce that he had become a first-time father.
“My close friends and family know there are very few times when I’m left speechless… wow! I’m incredibly happy to welcome our new baby boy into the world,” he said.
“It’s a moment that I will never forget for the rest of my life and my favourite memory I have so far. I’m completely in awe of his incredible mother and how she has been the whole way through this, she’s really made my dreams come true.”
July 2018: Liam and Cheryl split
After two years of dating and four months after welcoming their son, Cheryl and Liam announced they had split in July 2018.
“Cheryl and I are sad to announce that we are going our separate ways. It’s been a tough decision for us to make,” he revealed to fans on X.
“We still have so much love for each other as a family. Bear is our world and we ask that you respect his privacy as we navigate our way through this together.”
Cheryl and I are sad to announce that we are going our separate ways. It’s been a tough decision for us to make. We still have so much love for each other as a family. Bear is our world and we ask that you respect his privacy as we navigate our way through this together.
— Liam (@LiamPayne) July 1, 2018
2019: Cheryl on co-parenting Bear with Liam
A year following their split, Cheryl revealed to The Telegraph in April 2019 that she and Liam were co-parenting their son Bear.
“[Liam is] much softer than me. But it is what it is, and I’m OK about it,” she explained. “When you have a baby, you are not consumed with just thinking about yourself. It’s your responsibility to keep things settled and happy, so you make the best of everything. And we have.”
A month later, Liam opened up about the behaviour of his son.
“Sometimes he’ll sort of have a go at his mum and I’ll be like, ‘Bear, stop it,'” he told US Weekly in May 2019. “He just wouldn’t listen to me today. He just wants to silence me with his hand. He’s like, ‘Just give me a minute. I’m busy.'”
In December 2019, Liam revealed that he would be spending the holidays with his son.
“I’m going to go down and see Bear, maybe cook a Christmas dinner and just hang out with family,” the Bedroom Floor singer said. “I like to do Sunday roasts. It brings you back to normality. We’re going to go down and cook some good food and hang out.”
2020: Liam honours Cheryl on Mother’s Day
Despite splitting from Cheryl two years prior, he still honoured her on Mother’s Day in March 2020 via his X account.
“Double special day today thanks to two very special ladies and a very special little man,” he wrote. “Happy Mother’s Day mum and Cheryl you two are the most amazing mothers Bear and I could have asked for, thanks for raising me right and thank you Cheryl for showing my son all the love in the world.”
2023: Liam ‘thankful’ for Cheryl
Despite a short-lived relationship, Liam expressed that he was thankful to have Cheryl and son Bear beside him when he took a career break.
“More than anything, I want to say thank you to him and his mum for giving me a little bit of freedom to go and get well in that moment because I had to,” he explained to fans on his YouTube channel last year.
“There’s no point trying to be a dad when you’ve got nothing to teach and I don’t think up until this point I really had much to say to him other than just caring for him very deeply and loving him deeply, which is obviously the most important thing.”
2023: Cheryl ‘never thought about the ten-year age gap’ with Liam
The age gap between Cheryl and Liam continued to turn heads when they struck up a romance. She is 10 years his senior.
However, a source told Heat magazine last year that Cheryl “never thought about the ten-year age gap” when they were together.
September 2023: Cheryl’s ‘worries’ over Liam
In September last year, reports claimed that Cheryl was “really worried” about Liam following a hospital dash.
Liam was hospitalised after developing a kidney infection.
A source told Heat at the time: “Cheryl is really worried about Liam. As soon as she heard he was in hospital, she feared the worst. She’s really protective of him and is worried no one is actually looking out for him.”
At the time of writing, Cheryl hasn’t yet publicly commented on Liam’s death.
Read more: Liam Payne’s ‘dangerous’ balcony stunt years before his tragic death resurfaces
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