'SUPERHERO' DAD
Inside Liam Payne’s sweet relationship with son Bear, 7, after split with Cheryl
Cheryl revealed why she and Liam decided to split in 2018
DEVOTED dad Liam Payne shared a sweet relationship with his seven-year-old son Bear before his tragic death.
The singer, 31, was in Buenos Aires, Argentina, for pal Niall Horan's tour when he fell from his third floor hotel room on Wednesday afternoon.
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Liam stole the nation's heart when he auditioned for the X Factor back in 2008.
And he stole show judge Cheryl's, with the pair going on to welcome son Bear in 2017.
Over the last seven years, Liam has shared sweet posts, photos and birthday tributes to his beloved son.
To mark Bear's first birthday in 2018, Liam posted a shot of himself holding his son's hand and described him as “his world”.
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He wrote at the time: “Can’t believe my little man is one today, where does the time go? Happy birthday son, you're my world."
That same year, Liam turned 25 and celebrated with a birthday cake with a bear made out of icing on top of it, in a sweet nod to his son.
In December 2017, he shared a picture of himself and Bear wearing matching shoes and wrote: "Cheryl has been an incredible mother to baby Bear since the day he was born and I can’t thank her enough for that."
Over the years, he'd share rare insights into his life as a father.
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In 2020, Liam was forced to miss Bear's third birthday amid the Covid pandemic.
He said at the time: "It was horrible and I got lots of pictures and videos, I did a little FaceTime.
"That's been the hardest thing, it's the most difficult thing for all of us.
"It's quite funny - the technology that's been pushing us further apart is pulling us together again."
Weeping One Direction fans hold candlelit vigils for Liam Payne after star dies in tragic hotel balcony fall
The following year, Liam revealed Bear's sweet Father's Day gift.
He posted an Instagram story of himself reacting to his son's present of cookies and captioned the post "Father's day has started".
The lovingly made gingerbread biscuits had been decorated with large googly eyes and coloured icing.
During an interview with in 2022, the pop star once said that Bear looks at him like a "superhero".
"I see him two times a week, three times a week sometimes," he said.
"And I make sure when I see him, he has 100 per cent of my time.
"I make sure that I'm not on my phone or d***ing around somewhere else."
It comes as:
- One Direction fans held candlelit vigils outside the hotel
- The singer posted on Snapchat just minutes before his death
- Rylan Clark and Dermot O'Leary paid tribute to the star
- Liam's ex-fiancée Maya Henry broke her silence after his death
- His girlfriend Kate Cassidy posted a message before he died
- Harry Styles' mum paid heartbreaking tribute to the star
In August, he opened up about his "mini me" son while celebrating his 31st birthday.
In an Instagram video uploaded at the time, Liam shared: "I didn't get any dad socks yet though.
"I'm going to speak to my son in a little bit which I'm really excited about.
"Bless him. He's getting so big now.
"He's a big boy and he looks like a mini me. As if we needed any more me in the world."
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He added at the time: "I like to give him those moments and it's important, he needs that in his life.
"He needs his dad in his life, and I'm happy he looks at me like a superhero, and I'm hoping to keep it that way."
Back in 2017, Liam said he wanted to take a step away from his pop career when his son started school.
He told The Sun at the time: "I had a bit of a break at the start [when Bear was born] but now I want to get work out of the way before school and stuff [with him] starts you know.
"I want to more at home with him during that time. I’m trying to be as busy as I am right now."
He previously said it was horrible going weeks without seeing son Bear as he admitted that being a dad is "hard".
Liam said on The One Show in 2018: "I don't know, I am quite excited to go out (on tour).
"It is difficult being on the road, going out and promo-ing.
"It has been hard to get home and see him. Loads of random things happen with kids all the time.
"Like if he's not very well, sometimes you miss dates and things. Then a couple of weeks go by, and I haven't seen him in ages.
"It hurts, I do want to go out on tour, I'm just going to have to figure out the schedule properly."
Liam got together while Cheryl was going through her divorce to second husband Jean-Bernard Fernandez-Versini at the beginning of 2016.
Despite their age difference they looked completely infatuated with each other when the couple made their red carpet debut at Cannes in May 2016.
Liam even paid a sweet tribute to herd by getting a tattoo of her eye on his arm.
The pair welcomed their baby son Bear together on March 22, 2017.
However in February 2018, The Sun broke the story that Liam's constant travelling to promote his solo career had placed a huge strain on the relationship.
By July 2018, Cheryl and Liam made the decision to split.
Inside Liam Payne and Cheryl's romance
By Joanne Kavanagh
IT was a romance that caused a media storm.
One Direction hunk Liam Payne was only 14 when he met former X Factor judge Cheryl during the show in 2008.
But it wasn't until 2016 - when the Girls Aloud singer was divorcing her second husband - that the pair got together despite their ten-year age gap.
The couple made their relationship official in May of that year when they appeared at Eva Longoria's Global Gift Gala in Paris.
In 2017, Liam paid a sweet tribute to his girlfriend by getting a tattoo of her eye on his arm.
Cheryl was pregnant at the time and gave birth to a boy on March 22, 2017.
She posted a picture on Instagram of Liam cradling their 7lb 9oz baby captioned: "On Wednesday Liam and I became parents to an incredibly beautiful, healthy baby boy looking like a dream."
One pal told The Sun: "Liam didn't leave Cheryl's side throughout the birth, and like her, he is besotted with their new son and can't wait to take him home.
"This is the perfect Mother's Day for Cheryl."
The Sun revealed in May 2017 that the couple named their son Bear.
They decided on the unusual name after spending a week getting to know him.
In February 2018, The Sun broke the news that Liam's constant travelling to promote his solo career had placed a huge strain on the relationship, and the pair were ready to split.
That same month, as she shrugged off questions about her crumbling romance with Liam during a BBC Breakfast interview.
They then put on a united front together at the Brit Awards where they smiled on the red carpet and Cheryl joked about the couple's 'safe word'.
However, by July 2018, Cheryl and Liam made the decision to split.
A pal told The Sun: "Cheryl and Liam worked really hard on their relationship – they had troubles earlier this year and were able to get through them.
"But they're in different stages of their lives and, after a lot of careful thought, came to a decision that it's best for everyone if they do go their separate ways."
Liam and Cheryl released a statement confirming their break-up which read: "We are sad to announce that we are going our separate ways. It's been a tough decision for us to make.
"We still have so much love for each other as a family. Bear is our world and we ask that you respect his privacy as we navigate our way through this together."
Since breaking up with Cheryl, Liam's love life had been just as turbulent as his health worries.
He was linked to supermodel Naomi Campbell, 54, in 2019.
He had an on-off, three-year relationship with ex-fiancée Maya Henry which was said to have ended for good in May, 2022.
Then pictures emerged of him with his arms around American model Aliana Mawla.
The star had arrived in Argentina on September 30 this year with his most recent girlfriend Kate Cassidy.
The couple were seen at Niall's show dancing and meeting fans on October 2.
A source later confirmed to The Sun that Liam had died.
Liam was staying at Hotel CasaSur in the neighbourhood of Palermo, local media report.
His final post on social media was put up on his Snapchat only minutes before his death and showed him and Kate.
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He had posted earlier in the day talking about riding horses, playing polo and looking forward to returning home to see his dog.
The singer wrote: "It's a lovely day here in Argentina."
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