COLE, PAYNE SPLIT AFTER 2 YEARS
This should no longer be a surprise: Liam Payne and Cheryl have split. Shortly after the couple welcomed son Bear, rumors started swirling that their relationship was on the rocks.
Late Sunday night, 24-yearold Payne tweeted: “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.”
Cheryl, 35, tweeted her own announcement, which contained the exact same words.
Cheryl and Payne are not married, but they have been together for over two years. Their son Bear Grey Payne is just a year old.
The announcement came just a day after Cheryl celebrated her 35th birthday.
Cheryl had been married twice before.
The first rumors of a split came when months after Bear was born in March 2017, Payne had to leave Cheryl’s side to promote his music. The former One Direction singer was signed as a solo artist by Capitol Records in 2016. In May 2017, his solo effort “Strip that Down” was released.
The two met 10 years ago when Payne first auditioned for “X Factor,” where Cheryl was a judge along with Simon Cowell.
Payne was then 14 but was cheeky enough to wink at Cheryl. The video of the wink and Cheryl’s flustered reaction went viral after the two confirmed they started dating in 2016.
In that audition, Payne failed to advance. But he returned to the show two years later. He still failed to advance as a solo male artist. However, another judge, Filipino-American Nicole Scherzinger, suggested to Cowell that Payne be grouped with other soloists who failed to advance and compete in the group category. Guess which group that was? Yep, One Direction.
Cheryl also came from a pop band formed through a reality show: Girls Aloud.
Cheryl went solo in 2009.