Liam Payne's relationships, from romance with childhood friend to family life with Cheryl and son

Liam and Kate have been together for two years, but the star has had a number of relationships in the public eye since he rose to fame in 2010 as one fifth of One Direction

One Direction star turned solo musician Liam Payne tragically passed away at the age of 31 after falling from the third-floor of a hotel in Buenos Aires on Wednesday October 16th.

The singer, who was one fifth of the biggest boyband in recent years, was travelling in the region with his partner Kate Cassidy.

Liam and Kate have been together for two years, but the star has had a number of relationships in the public eye since he rose to fame in 2010.

Read more: Olly Murs leads tributes for One Direction star Liam Payne as fans hold vigil at Argentina hotel

Read more: Liam Payne's final message on social media show how One Direction star spent days before death

Danielle Peazer

Liam was catapulted to fame via Simon Cowell's TV show X Factor, with One Direction being formed in 2010 in from of audiences eyes on the series.

His first public relationship was with dancer Danielle Peazer who he met on the show. They were on and off from 2010 to 2013 before officially calling time on their romance.

At the time, their increasingly busy schedules were reported as a reason for the split.

The two seem to have remained amicable, being snapped at the Soccer Aid Aftershow Bash in London together in 2022.

Sophia Smith

His second relationship in the spotlight was with childhood sweetheart and friend Sophia Smith.

The pair were together from 2013 to 2015, and they originally met while at school together.

Speaking on the split at the time, Liam told The Sun: “I’m absolutely devastated to have split with Sophia."

"Being on tour all this year and being away from her was so hard. We spent so much time apart."

"But in order to do right by somebody, sometimes it’s better not to do what your heart wants, but to do what’s better for them.”

Cheryl Tweedy

Arguably his most publicised relationship, Liam and Cheryl Tweedy were linked in early 2016.

The Girls Aloud singer and 1D star first met at his original audition for X Factor in 2008 when he was 14. He was unsuccessful at the time, and re-auditioned in 2010 when he was put in the band.

The pair reconnected in 2015 after Cheryl's split from her second husband Jean-Bernard Fernandez-Versini.

They went public on the red carpet in the summer of 2016, and in 2017, shared the happy news that they had welcomed their son named Bear, who is now seven years old.

Just a year after becoming parents, the couple confirmed they had split.

In a joint statement, they said: "We 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.”

The couple committed to co-parenting their son, with Liam saying in 2022 that he spends two days per week with his little boy.

Naomi Campbell

Iconic supermodel Naomi and Liam sparked rumours of a fling in January 2019 when they began leaving flirty comments on each other's social media.

"Perfection in a person...don't give me those eyes," Liam said on a picture of Naomi. Naomi then commented "beautiful soul" on a shirtless picture of Liam.

The pair were spotted out in public several times together but never spoke out about their reported connection.

When asked, Naomi said coyly that she is not one to discuss her personal life.

"It’s crazy. It’s like one day it’s one person, the next day, it’s another. Who is tomorrow? That’s what I want to know," she told Jonothan Ross.

Maya Henry

Liam was dating actor, model and avid tennis player Maya Henry between 2018 and 2022. The pair were also engaged during their on and off relationship.

In 2021, during an appearance on the Diary of a CEO podcast, Payne revealed that he was single.

“I feel like more than anything at this point, I’m more disappointed in myself that I keep on hurting people,” he said at the time.

“That annoys me. I’ve just not been very good at relationships. I’m just not very good at them so I just need to work on myself before I put myself on to somebody else.”

“I feel like that’s where I got to in my last relationship. I just wasn’t giving a very good version of me anymore, that I didn’t appreciate and I didn’t like being.”

They rekindled, but had split again in early 2022.

They actually met first in 2015 at a One Direction meet and greet.

Kate Cassidy

Kate and Liam met at a bar where Kate worked as a waitress in South Carolina in October 2022.

Sharing the story of how they met on TikTok, Kate said: "On the way to work my manager texted me and was like 'Liam Payne from One Direction is here, you're going to be taking care of him tonight.'"

"When I first approached him, I got nervous and stopped and turned around. I guess we made awkward eye contact for a second. We talk about it because he said to [his friend] Conor, 'Oh my God, did you see that girl walking over here? I'm not leaving this bar until I get her number.'"

"Then two minutes later I come back around. He was like, 'is there anyway I can get a table inside?' He's literally sitting inside drinking Red Bulls and I didn't think anything of it, I just thought he was overly friendly, I didn't think he was flirting with me."

Fans keep up with Liam, who has rarely posted more than 24 hour long stories on social media over the past few months, via Kate’s profiles where she posts sweet insights into their relationship.

They flew to Argentina together to see one of Niall Horan’s concerts. While they were originally meant to spend five days there, Kate says they ended up staying for two weeks.

According to one of her latest TikTok videos, Kate left on 14 October and returned to Miami, Florida without Liam.

Tragically, Liam passed away after falling from a third floor height days after.

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