Ex factor? Cheryl and Liam ‘are preparing to separate’
HIS relationship with Cheryl is said to be on the rocks just 11 months after the birth of their baby son.
And Liam Payne seemed in no rush to get home as he enjoyed a Saturday night out at the boxing.
The One Direction star, 24, was pictured alongside former athlete Denise Lewis, leaving Cheryl, who is ten years his senior, at home with their young son Bear.
Sources claim Payne and the singer are in crisis talks as his work schedule, including weeks away recording in Los Angeles, is taking a toll.
Cheryl, 34, is said to have stayed with her younger boyfriend for their son’s sake, but to be struggling with his hectic solo career and their age difference. While the couple are still together, they are reportedly unsure about the
‘They do care for each other’
future of their relationship and preparing to go their separate ways.
‘There’s a big age gap between them,’ a source told The Sun. ‘If they didn’t have Bear then they would have most likely split up by now. But they do love their son. And they do care for each other so it’s now a matter of seeing if there’s a final way forward to try and make it work.’
The couple have not been pictured together in public since a charity event in November 2016, but have often shared gushing posts on social media.
However, Payne’s latest Instagram post, on Valentine’s Day, just showed a child’s T-shirt with the slogan, ‘Bear is mummy’s little Valentine’, accompanied by the message: ‘Happy Valentine’s Day Cheryl and everyone. Looks like I’ve got the big guy to compete with now.’
During Payne’s solo US tour, Cheryl has been left at home taking care of their son. On Saturday night he was back in Britain and still leaving her alone with the baby as he posed with Ms Lewis at the George Groves vs Chris Eubank Jr fight in Manchester.
The former X Factor contestant has also made a noticeable change to his style in recent months.
Once a clean-cut boyband figure, he has amassed a large number of tattoos and taken to posting pictures of himself shirtless on his hotel bed. He met Cheryl when he was 14 and auditioning for The X Factor where the pop diva, then 24, was a judge. They are thought to have been dating since around February 2016 after Cheryl split from husband Jean-Bernard Fernandez-Versini, a French restaurateur.
Within weeks of Payne’s romance with Cheryl starting he had a tribute to his girlfriend tattooed on his hand.
Cheryl, who is the face of L’Oréal, now legally goes by her maiden name Cheryl Tweedy, but prefers to be known only by her first name professionally. Before marrying Fernandez-Versini in 2014 she was married to footballer Ashley Cole for four years. The singer filed for divorce in 2010 after claims her husband had been unfaithful.
Bear is Cheryl’s first child, and made Payne the second One Direction member to become a father. Louis Tomlinson, 26, has a son Freddie, two, with ex-girlfriend Briana Jungwirth, also 26.
One Direction were once the biggest boyband in the world, but after announcing a hiatus in 2016, there are no signs of a comeback and they have dissolved their touring company.
Representatives of the couple were approached for comment.