Liam Payne and fellow singer Cheryl might have had a fairly short-lived relationship, however, their days of knowing each other dated back many years prior.
Tragically, One Direction star Liam has died aged 31 after falling from his hotel balcony in Buenos Aires on October 16.
Here, we take a look at when he and Cheryl first met, how their relationship blossomed, the “controversial” age gap and the aftermath of their split.
2008: Cheryl and Liam Payne first meet when he was 14
Back in 2008, when Cheryl was a judge on The X Factor, Liam auditioned for the show as a solo artist. He sang Frank Sinatra’s Fly Me to the Moon.
Clearly crushing on Cheryl at the time, the then 14-year-old cheekily winked at Cheryl during his audition. The Girls Aloud star saw potential in Liam’s singing abilities at the time, praising his talent while expressing that he was “really cute”.
At the time, Cheryl was married to her first husband, footballer Ashley Cole.
2010: Liam returns to The X Factor
Liam made it to the next stage of the competition but was later cut and didn’t make the live shows.
Two years later in 2010, Liam returned to The X Factor and gave being a solo artist another shot. However, he was put into a band which would become One Direction.
Cheryl was still a judge on the show and saw Liam’s career blossom in real time.
2016: Liam and Cheryl begin dating
One month following her divorce from second husband, Jean-Bernard Fernandez-Versini, rumours suggested Cheryl was dating Liam in February 2016, which soon proved to be true.
In May 2016, the pair confirmed their relationship by making their red carpet debut at the Global Gift Gala in Paris.
At the ceremony, Cheryl was honoured with the Global Gift Philanthropist Award, which Liam gushed about via his X account.
“So proud of her tonight such a special award #GlobalGiftGala,” he wrote while attaching selfie of him and Cheryl.
However, their 10-year age gap did raise some eyebrows.
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March 2017: Liam and Cheryl welcome a son Bear
After much speculation whether Cheryl was pregnant or not, the pair revealed they had welcomed a son, Bear, in March 2017.
“On Wednesday 22nd March Liam and I became parents to an incredibly beautiful, healthy baby boy, weighing 7lb 9 and looking like a dream,” Cheryl informed her Instagram followers.
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