In 2017, former One Direction band member Liam Payne welcomed his son Bear Grey Payne, whom he shares with British pop star Cheryl Cole. The pair had been dating since 2016 before announcing the surprise news of their bundle of joy to fans the following year, and though there were high hopes for the couple, things fell apart by 2018, and they decided to call it quits.
Bear has since turned seven years old while his mom and dad are parents juggling their hectic careers with parenthood. To make matters worse, the pandemic made things all the more difficult for both Cheryl and Liam, since the latter wasn’t allowed to visit his offspring due to strict social distancing guidelines.
Though they aren’t together anymore, the ex-couple are said to have gone above and beyond to keep their friendship intact for the sake of their son, who has evidently become both of their main priority. While Liam is slowly gearing up to return to music, Cheryl can expect her ex to head back on the road for months on end while she has since switched from a career in pop to strictly focusing her attention on television and podcasting. But what is Liam Payne like as a dad?
Updated October 2024: Liam Payne was said to be a great dad to his son, Bear. One of the most unfortunate truths about Liam’s death on October 16, 2024, is that his son will grow up without his father. This fact has been lamented by family, friends, and fans alike.
Was Liam Payne A Good Dad?
Liam Payne was respectful of Cheryl Cole and stayed connected to his son, Bear, even if it was via daily FaceTime calls while he was out of town
Having ended his relationship with Cheryl years ago, Liam had always been very respectful of his ex-girlfriend in interviews, showing clear signs that the singer was mature enough not to badmouth the mother of his child, regardless of whether the romance ended on sour terms or not.
Even if it did, the “Strip That Down” singer fully acknowledged that he shared a child with Cheryl and from what he said in interviews, the pair were both trying their best to co-parent to the best of their abilities, though the pandemic certainly hadn’t made things easy on Liam.
In an interview with Glamour, Liam heavily credited his former flame for being the best person to co-parent with, having described the experience so far as relatively easy.
“I mean, Cheryl is literally the best person to co-parent with. No stress involved.”
Liam did mention that while he’s had to FaceTime her and their son due to social distance guidelines during the pandemic, Cheryl has been very supportive of always keeping a bond between Bear and his dad.
”It’s very, very relaxed, and we spend a lot of time on FaceTime. And it’s been really lovely, and I’m closer to them than I’ve ever been before, actually, which is really, really nice. But bedtime FaceTime can go really well sometimes.”
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Liam continued saying, “Or I bought him some toys yesterday that I showed them on the FaceTime, and it was like I had to go and travel over and hand the toys over the fence!”
What Cheryl Cole Said About Liam Payne’s Parenting
Cheryl Cole had nothing but positive things to say about Liam Payne’s parenting of their son, Bear
In June 2019, just one year after their split, the “Promise This” former pop star said she was relieved as to how well she and Liam have adjusted to parenthood even though they are no longer living under one roof.
Cheryl stressed how important it was for her to keep a good bond with Liam under any circumstances because she herself knows what it’s like to grow up with only one parent present in her life, which led Cheryl to make some not-so-smart decisions in her younger years.
Speaking on her bond with Liam since their split and how they’ve been able to support one another while co-parenting Bear, she told The Sun, “Things are great. I’m actually really happy that we can be the way we are.”
“We love and care about each other a lot and we share a child. It’s really important that we’re able to have a very healthy good relationship.”
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”We’re going to be in each other’s lives forever, so we’ve got to figure it out and be grown-up about it.”
Was Liam Payne Working On New Music?
Liam Payne released his latest single in March 2024 and looked to be working on other music at the time of his death
In August 2021, Liam revealed he had commenced production on his second album, which is the follow-up to his debut record, LP1, which he released back in December 2019.
In March 2024, Liam released the single, “Teardrops” which earned three million downloads on Spotify. Liam also has other music that it appeared he was working on to release. Just what will be done with the music now that Liam has passed away, remains to be seen.
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Liam Payne
Stay up to date with our coverage of Liam Payne by reading our latest articles that feature him and topics surrounding his life and death.
- Birthname
- Liam James Payne
- Birthdate
- August 29, 1993
- Birthplace
- Wolverhampton, West Midlands
- Members
- Children: Bear Payne (shared with Cheryl Cole)
- Deathdate
- October 16, 2024
- Height
- 5’10”
- @LiamPayn
- @liampayne
- Siblings
- Nicola Payne and Ruth Gibbins
- Parents
- Karen and Geoff Payne
- Profession
- Reality TV Star
- Net worth
- $70,000,000
- Professions
- Musician
- Source of Wealth
- Music career and various business ventures
- Nationality
- British
