One Direction star Liam Payne's seven-year-old son Bear and relationship with Cheryl

Liam first crossed paths with Cheryl Tweedy back in 2008, when the former One Direction star first auditioned for The X Factor, eventually reconnecting in 2015 after Cheryl's second marriage ended

Tributes continue to pour in for former One Direction icon Liam Payne following his tragic death after falling from the third floor of a hotel in Argentina.

The star had recently headed to a concert to see one-time bandmate, Irish songwriter Niall Horan, where he was spotted soaking up the atmosphere with his girlfriend Kate Cassidy.

Liam and Niall both met back when they were teens, auditioning for The X Factor, where they auditioned as solo artists before being put together in the internationally successful mega-boyband One Direction.

READ MORE: Liam Payne shared photo of One Direction in final Instagram post before tragic death at 31

READ MORE: Liam Payne's tragic 'secret struggles' away from One Direction as singer dies aged 31

The five-piece was formed by X-Factor judges Simon Cowell, Nicole Scherzinger and Louis Walsh and also starred Zayn Malik, Harry Styles and Louis Tomlinson, but following his initial rise to fame, Liam was connected to another star from The X Factor, RSVP Live reports.

First crossing paths

Liam first crossed paths with Cheryl Tweedy in 2008 when he first auditioned for the show but did not get through.

They then met again in 2010 when Liam was 16 and re-auditioning for the show, with Cheryl declaring: "You've definitely got it. Whatever it is, you've got it. And your voice is really powerful."

Reconnecting

In the years following his X Factor success, Liam was constantly on tour and in the studio as a member of the massive boyband.

In the meantime, Cheryl met her second husband Jean-Bernard Fernandez-Versini, marrying him just two months later in a private beach wedding in Mustique.

Their marriage ultimately ended in 2015, with the couple officially divorcing in 2016, with Liam and Cheryl then reconnecting when he returned to the X Factor to perform with One Direction.

Although there was a 10-year age gap between the pair, the couple's relationship quickly blossomed, appearing on red carpets together.

In 2016, the first announcement of their relationship was made public, with Liam sharing his love for Cheryl on International Women's Day.

Liam uploaded a loved-up Instagram post with the caption: "Happy International Women’s Day to my favourite woman in the world. Hope I make you as happy as u make me."

They then went red-carpet official with an appearance at the Global Gift Gala in Paris, and later the Cannes Film Festival.

Arrival of son, Bear

In 2017, the one-time couple announced the arrival of their son Bear, who is now seven years old. Confirming the news, Cheryl posted a picture on Instagram of Liam cradling their little one, who came into the world at 7lb 9oz.

She captioned the snap: "On Wednesday Liam and I became parents to an incredibly beautiful, healthy baby boy looking like a dream."

The pair then took a bit of time to decide their son’s name, with one source revealing: "Cheryl and Liam wanted to get to know [their son] before they decided on the name.

"They didn't have the name Bear before the birth. But they'd been thinking of a name since meeting him and they just felt it suited him."

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Break up

As the summer of 2018 hit, the two decided to part ways, releasing a statement confirming their breakup. They posted a joint social media statement that read: "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."

They committed to co-parenting their son, with both keeping their son's life private for the most part.

Always wanting to be a father

In 2018, Liam revealed that he always wanted to be a young father, as he welcomed his son into the world at 23.

“I always wanted to be a young dad, but I didn’t really expect that I’d ever be in this place,” he told People.

“I had my son at a young age, and you think it will be a magical thing, that you’re going to grow up one day into the person you’re supposed to be,” he explained.

“But it took a lot to find my footing. I figured Dad takes care of everyone, that’s what he does, so my thing was to cook.” He noted that his son was already growing up “so quickly.”

“He was already huge when he was born. I walked past a baby in the park and was like, ‘Mine was never that small!’ He was always massive. I look at him, like, ‘Where’s my little baby gone already?’”

In 2022, Liam said that he gets to spend two days a week with his son.

“I see him two times a week, three times a week sometimes,” he told People. “And I make sure when I see him, he has 100 per cent of my time."

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