Liam Payne’s ex-girlfriend Sophia Smith has announced on social media that she is engaged.
The influencer revealed the adorable moment her fiancé James Bridgwood asked for her hand in marriage over the Christmas period. Sophia, 30, dated Liam between 2013 and October 2015, after initially meeting at St. Peter’s Collegiate School in Wolverhampton.
As reported by the Mirror, Liam – who tragically died in October aged 31 – had asked Sophia out over 20 times before she agreed to date him. Sophia shared a clip of James popping the question in a spacious room in their home. They were surrounded by rose petals and a bottle of champagne as they relaxed in pyjamas, with their daughter, Angelina Grace, who she gave birth to in April 2023.
Captioning the adorable upload, which was accompanied by Dan Berk’s acoustic track, Anyone, Sophia said: “Yes a million times over. 25.12.24,” alongside a read heart emoji. The star was seen emotional as she looked down at her ring while Angelina appeared blissfully unaware as she asked her parents to play with her dolls.
Sophia, who has remained close to Liam’s bandmates relatives and colleagues was flooded with celebratory messages. Lottie Tomlinson gushed: “Congratulations,” alongside crying emojis and pink hearts. Lou Teasdale added: “Aw Soph,” with a red heart. I’m A Celebrity star Maura Higgins typed: “Congratulations.”
One follower added: “Omggggggggg. Congratulations!!!!!!!” “Favourites forever can’t stop watching this video,” said a second. While a third went on to write: “Yayyyyy! So happy for you both! Congratulations.” Over the course of their relationship, Sophia was often seen alongside Liam and attended One Direction’s final concert tour with him.
Following their split almost ten years ago, Liam told how he was “absolutely devastated”. Speaking to The Sun on Sunday, he said: “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.” It was reported that the former couple, were discussing plans to marry one another before they called time on their romance.
He told Attitude Magazine: “We have talked about marriage, but 22 seems a bit young for us. Sophia needs to go off and do what she wants to do. I don’t want her to be one of those stay-at-home girlfriends who doesn’t really do much.” Her joyous news comes almost three months after Liam tragically died.
The former One Direction singer tragically died aged just 31. He fell from the third floor of a hotel. An autopsy ruled that Liam had died instantly after his fall which caused “multiple traumatic injuries” and subsequently led to “internal and external haemorrhage.”
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