Liam Payne’s ex-girlfriend, Cheryl Cole, who is also the mother of his only child, has spoken out following the former One Direction singer’s tragic death.
“As I try to navigate this earth shattering event, and work through my own grief at this indescribably painful time, I’d like to kindly remind everyone that we have lost a human being,” she wrote via Instagram alongside a throwback photo of Payne with a newborn Bear in bed on Friday.
“Liam was not only a pop star and celebrity, he was a son, a brother, an uncle, a dear friend and a father to our 7 year old son. A son that now has to face the harsh reality of never seeing his father again,” she continued, noting “I am begging you.”
“Before you leave comments or make videos, ask yourself if you would like your own child or family to read them. Please give Liam the little dignity he has left in the wake of his death to rest in some peace at last.”
On Oct. 16, Payne died suddenly at age 31 after plunging off a hotel balcony in Argentina. It’s currently not clear if it was intentional or accidental, but an autopsy report on Thursday revealed he may have been unconscious at the time.
Witnesses told TMZ that Payne was acting “erratic” before his sudden passing.
The Post has reached out to Payne’s reps.
Payne had been in Argentina with his girlfriend, Kate Cassidy. The pair even supported his former One Direction bandmate Niall Horan, 31, who had a show there. Cassidy was not with the singer at the time of his death, as she had left Argentina two days earlier.
Cole, 41, is an English singer who shares son Bear, 7, with Payne. The former couple were romantically linked from 2016 to 2018 and welcomed their son in 2017.
Cole and Payne first met in 2008, when he was just 14 and she was 24. That year, he auditioned to be on “X Factor” for the first time.
Cole was one of the judges on the British competition series, alongside Simon Cowell, Dannii Minogue and Louis Walsh.
Payne sang “Fly Me to the Moon” by Frank Sinatra and winked at Cole during his performance. Cole called him “really cute” at the time.
“Let’s address the elephant in the room,” Payne said in a May 2020 segment for Esquire, as he rewatched his first audition.
He added, “Obviously, the future mother of my son is sitting in that chair. This is now an episode of ‘How I Met Your Mother,’ so that’s enough of that I think.”
Payne didn’t succeed the first time on the show, but he returned to audition for “The X Factor” two years later in 2010 at age 16.
The second time was the charm. That’s when the boy band sensation One Direction — including members Horan, Zayn Malik, 31, Louis Tomlinson, 32, and Harry Styles, 30 — was created.
Cole was still a judge in 2010 when she crossed paths with Payne again. The two started dating in 2016.
“My close friends and family know there are very few times when I’m left speechless… wow!” Payne wrote via Instagram after his son’s birth in 2017.
He added, “I’m incredibly happy to welcome our new baby boy into the world, it’s a moment that I will never forget for the rest of my life and my favourite memory I have so far. I’m completely in awe of his incredible mother and how she has been the whole way through this, she’s really made my dreams come true.”
Payne announced his split with Cole in July 2018.
“Cheryl and I are sad to announce that we are going our separate ways. It’s been a tough decision for us to make,” he wrote via X, formerly Twitter.
He added, “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.”
The singer told People in 2018, “I always wanted to be a young dad but I didn’t really expect that I’d ever be in this place.”
Payne, who was 23 when his only child was born, added, “I had my son at a young age, and you think it will be a magical thing, that you’re going to grow up one day into the person you’re supposed to be,” he explained. “But it took a lot to find my footing.”
In April 2018, Cole told the Telegraph, “[Liam is] much softer than me. But it is what it is, and I’m OK about it.”
She added, “When you have a baby, you are not consumed with just thinking about yourself. It’s your responsibility to keep things settled and happy, so you make the best of everything. And we have.”
In March 2020, Payne posted a Twitter tribute to both Cole and his mother for UK Mother’s Day.
“Double special day today thanks to 2 very special ladies and a very special little man… Happy Mother’s Day mum and Cheryl you two are the most amazing mothers Bear and I could have asked for, thanks for raising me right and thank you Cheryl for showing my son all the love,” he wrote at the time.
In 2023, Payne revealed that he had a 100-day stay in a Louisiana rehab facility and was six months sober.
In a video posted on his YouTube channel, Payne credited Bear and Cole with aiding his recovery.
“More than anything, I want to say thank you to him and his mum for giving me a little bit of freedom to go and get well in that moment, ‘cause I had to,’” he said.
He added, “There’s no point trying to be a dad when you’ve got nothing to teach, and I don’t think up until this point I really had much to say to him, other than just caring for him deeply and loving him very deeply.”
