Cheryl Cole, mother of Liam Payne’s son Bear, attends late singer’s UK funeral
Liam Payne’s ex Cheryl Cole said goodbye to the late One Direction member at his funeral on Wednesday.
Cole, 41, was seen at the service for Payne at a church in Amersham, England.
She looked somber and was dressed in all black. She also sported a pair of black sunglasses.
Cole dated Payne from 2016 to 2018. They welcomed their son Bear in 2017.
Bear was not photographed at the funeral.
Payne’s parents, Geoff and Karen, his girlfriend Kate Cassidy, and his former One Direction bandmates Harry Styles, Niall Horan, Louis Tomlinson and Zayn Malik were also at the service.
Simon Cowell, who formed One Direction on “The X Factor,” and James Corden, a longtime friend of the boy band, were photographed paying their respects as well.
On Oct. 16, Payne died suddenly at age 31 after plunging off a hotel balcony in Argentina. After an extensive investigation, authorities in Buenos Aires revealed that Payne fractured his skull and died instantly of “very serious injuries.” Officials do not believe his fall was intentional.
The prosecutor’s office said Payne had alcohol, cocaine and an unspecified prescription antidepressant in his system. Police arrested three individuals in connection with Payne’s death, alleging they provided narcotics to the singer.
Two days after Payne’s death, Cole spoke out on social media and begged for compassion as the internet speculated over what led to Payne’s 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.
“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.
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,” she added.
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, while Cole was one of the judges alongside Simon Cowell, Dannii Minogue and Louis Walsh.
The “Promise This” singer called Payne “really cute” at the time.
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.
“You’ve definitely got it. Whatever it is, you’ve got it,” Cole told Payne after his second audition. “And I thought your voice was really, really powerful.”
On that season, Payne was put into One Direction and the five-person group later become one of the best-selling boy bands of all time.
