Liam Payne’s ex-girlfriend Cheryl Cole—with whom he shared son Bear—has spoken out after the former One Direction member died on Oct. 16 due to a fall from a hotel balcony.
Cheryl Cole is working through a devastating loss.
The former girlfriend of Liam Payne—with whom she shared 7-year-old son Bear—has broken her silence after the former One Direction member died at the age of 31 after falling from a hotel balcony in Buenos Aires, Argentina, Oct. 16.
“As I try to navigate this earth shattering event,” Cheryl began her message, posted to Instagram Oct. 18, “and work through my own grief at this indescribably painful time, I’d like to kindly remind everyone that we have lost a human being.”
“Liam was not only a pop star and celebrity, he was a son, a brother, an uncle, a dear friend and a father to our 7 year old son,” she continued. “A son that now has to face the reality of never seeing his father again. What is troubling my spirit the most is that one day Bear will have access to the abhorrent reports and media exploitation we have seen in the past two days. It is breaking my heart further that I cannot protect him from that in his future.”
Cheryl, who also shared a photo of Bear and Liam together, went on to send a request.
“I am begging you to consider what use some of these reports are serving,” she wrote, “other than to cause further harm to everyone left behind picking up the pieces. Before you leave comments or make videos, ask yourself if you would like your own child or family to read them.”
“Please give Liam the little dignity he has left in the wake of his death,” she concluded, “to rest in some peace at last.”
While Cheryl, 41, and Liam first met when she was a judge on the X Factor in 2010—the season in which Liam was placed in One Direction alongside bandmates Harry Styles, Niall Horan, Louis Tomlinson and Zayn Malik—it wasn’t until the pair reconnected during the band’s return to the series for a performance at the close of 2015 that sparks began to fly.
She and Liam then began dating in 2016, welcoming Bear in 2017 before they parted ways the following year.
In the years since, however, both Cheryl and Liam—who started dating girlfriend Kate Cassidy in 2022—had been candid about the ways in which they coparented their son.
As the Girls Aloud alum told The Telegraph in 2019, “Liam is a great dad. He’s much softer than me. I’ll be the one saying, ‘Just one square of chocolate.’ But Bear is so good.”
Karwai Tang/WireImageShe added of the pair’s breakup, “It is what it is, and I’m okay about it. 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.”
Liam, for his part, also spoke to navigating his relationship with Bear amid a busy life in the spotlight.
“It’s not unusual for me to be in and out of his life,” Liam explained to Ting in 2020. “He’s a quiet and chill child. He doesn’t worry about things too much.”
It was a schedule that seemed to work for the coparents over the years, as the boy band alum told People in 2022, “I see him two times a week, three times a week sometime. And I make sure when I see him, he has 100 percent of my time.”
Because of the many surreal moments that come skyrocketing fame, being a dad was one of Liam’s favorites.
“I like to give him those moments and it’s important, he needs that in his life, he needs his dad in his life,” he added to People. “And I’m happy he looks at me like a superhero, and I’m hoping to keep it that way.”
