Liam Payne’s ex fiancée Maya Henry has broken her silence for the first time since his tragic death and has made some fresh bombshell claims.
The late One Direction singer passed away at the age of 31-years-old in October last year after falling from the third floor of a hotel in Buenos Aires, Argentina.
Liam was in a relationship with girlfriend Kate Cassidy at the time of his death with the couple having dated for two years.
Before that, the star was previously on and off with his ex Maya from 2018 until 2022.
The former couple even had plans to tie the knot at one point but Maya claims there had been too many strains on their relationship, saying she was still hurt “for years” after they broke up due to their tumultuous time together.
Last year, Maya wrote a fictionalised account of her time with Liam in her novel, Looking Forward.
Just a fortnight before his death, Maya posted a TikTok where she claimed that Liam had been harassing both her and her family and friends from various iCloud accounts.
Maya’s lawyer sent Payne a cease and desist order days later to demand that he stopped contacting her.
Here’s what Maya has now said about her time with Liam…
Drug use
In a written statement to Rolling Stone, Maya touched on Liam’s drug use as she confirmed it was what “tore them apart”.
She said: “On drugs, he became someone unrecognisable – so different from his sober self. I kept hoping each incident would be a wake-up call for him to get help, but it never was. I tried to be there for him. I loved him so much that I convinced myself I could fix things.”
Maya continued: “Anyone who has been with an addict understands how difficult that is.”
Speaking more of how she “tried to be there” for Liam, Maya revealed she had believed she could “fix things” and was hoping that if she held on for long enough, she could make him change.
She admitted this often meant “ignoring every red flag” and putting herself in “unsafe” situations.
‘Betrayals’
Maya also hinted at some betrayals in their relationship, saying: “I saw the signs; I felt the distance. In the end, it wasn’t just the betrayals or the addictions that broke us — it was the realisation that I had spent years in something that was never what I thought it was. I don’t fault him for his struggles.”
Split
She detailed the pain she felt from their break up, saying she was “left with nothing but emptiness”.
Maya claims she have stood by Liam “in his darkest moments” and “through things that broke her in ways she can’t explain”.
She insisted: “But what I do know is this: It wasn’t about me or anything I did. It was about struggles beyond my control. And in the end, I had to choose myself. I had to walk away, no matter how much it hurt, because staying in his world meant losing myself.”
Pain after Liam’s death
Maya revealed what hurts her the most is that “even after his death, I’m left with the aftermath of his actions that continue to unfold”.
She claimed: “As I’ve uncovered the extent of his non-consensual image sharing — images he acquired during our engagement and shared without my knowledge or consent — I’m faced with the complexity of grieving for someone I cared so deeply about despite the pain they have caused me.”