Cheryl has referred to Liam Payne as the “only man who never cheated on her”, and continued to defend her ex even after their separation.
The pair first became romantically linked back in 2016, following Cheryl’s surprising divorce from Jean-Bernard Fernandez-Versini. Then in 2017, the couple welcomed their son Bear, but broke up amicably less than a year later.
Despite the breakup, the two remained dedicated to speaking positively about each other for their son’s sake. In fact, alluding to her past relationship troubles, including ex-husband Ashley Cole’s infidelity, Cheryl confirmed he was the only main faithful to her.
The Girls Aloud member revealed the information in a 2018 interview with The Sunday Times’ Style magazine, declaring that the former One Direction member “is the only man who has ever been faithful”.
Despite her peaceful split with Liam, the Fight for This Love singer wasn’t bothered, stating she had found the “man of her dreams” – their son Bear. “I’m not looking for anything any more. I’m whole. I’ve got the man of my dreams,” Cheryl expressed.
When rumours of their split surfaced, many speculated Liam had been unfaithful, but the Strip That Down singer dismissed these rumours, admitting they had separated due to his struggles with fatherhood, reports the Mirror.
The singer became a father for the first time at 23, and he admitted that the pressure of parenthood “messed me up”. During the Ant Middleton and Liam Payne: Straight Talking documentary in 2019, he confessed that becoming a dad at such a young age was a “difficult thing”, and he had started to overthink his responsibilities.
“And I think I built fatherhood up so much in my head that it kind of messed me up to start with. I started in a bad place with it,” he added. “I think it spooked me out early on, and I was just worried I would not be enough to look after the both of them,” Liam further explained.
He later confessed that he “didn’t understand” what new mum Cheryl was experiencing, as the Girls Aloud star suffered a serious haemorrhage following Bear’s birth, and took a break from the limelight to focus on her newborn. Despite their separation, Liam was full of compliments for his ex-girlfriend, stating she was “the best mum in the world “.
“I couldn’t ask for someone better,” he expressed on Logan Paul’s podcast Impulsive. “The relationship we have now as friends has only grown more.”
Cheryl reciprocated her ex’s feelings, telling the Daily Mail in 2019 that she and Liam are successfully co-parenting Bear, and she couldn’t be happier about the positive influence it was having on their son.
“There’s no animosity whatsoever. We are learning all the time. And it’s good, it’s healthy. We’re just like any other couple that have gone through this, but we have a few more eyes watching us…just a few,” she added.
Cheryl has kept quiet about Liam in recent months, leading many One Direction fans to speculate that she was shielding her ex for the sake of their son Bear.
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