In the wake of Liam Payne’s tragic death, Cheryl paid tribute to her ex by touching on the harrowing reality their son now faces with ‘never seeing his father again’.
Following the heartbreaking news of Liam Payne’s death, Cheryl expressed her sorrow by acknowledging the painful truth that their son will have to grow up without his father.
The couple, who first met when Cheryl was judging The X Factor, had their son Bear a year into their relationship.
They announced their arrival without a chosen name, but a beloved nickname quickly emerged among them.
On March 25, 2017, Cheryl took to Instagram with a photo of the One Direction star and their new baby, captioning it: “On Wednesday 22nd March Liam and I became parents to an incredibly beautiful, healthy baby boy, weighing 7lb 9 and looking like a dream. Although he still doesn’t have a name he is already stealing hearts.”
She added: “We are all madly in love and overwhelmingly happy with our little arrival. Happy Mother’s Day to all the mothers around the world. A day that now has a different meaning to me forever.”
Liam found it difficult at first to adjust to the name (Image: Instagram)
While Liam preferred a more ‘traditional’ name, Cheryl was inclined towards something unique and memorable.
On The Late Late Show, Cheryl explained that it was their midwife who started calling their son ‘little bear’ during delivery, which inspired their final decision.
She explained: “He had this thing where if they don’t have a good cry, they get fluid in their lungs, which is quite serious, so he was like going ‘grrrr.’ I had like 10 doctors come in the room, and in the end, the guy was just like, ‘Dude, I’m not being funny. There’s nothing wrong with him. He just likes to make a lot of noise.’
Liam leaves behind his seven year old son Bear (Image: Instagram/cherylofficial)
“And that’s carried on ever since, so he just became Bear.”
However, it took some time for Liam to warm up to the unique name, admitting he initially had doubts. “When I look at him, he’s just Bear. At first, I wasn’t really having it. I was like, ‘I’m not really sure. I don’t really understand.’ Now I look at him and he’s Bear. You become your name as you get older anyway.”
The devoted father soon came up with his own pet name for the little one, as revealed during a Q&A session with fans backstage at B96 Radio Station in Chicago just two months after the birth.
One fan remembered: “He said his proudest moment was Bear and said at first he called him Cub a lot.”
It’s understood that Bear bears a striking resemblance to his dad, as Liam detailed in a 2020 interview with People magazine.
Liam shared: “He looks exactly like me, which is very strange. When family members see baby pictures of me now, they say, ‘Oh wow, Bear looks really great there!’”.
Back in August, Liam offered a rare glimpse into his personal life while celebrating his 31st birthday. On Instagram, he excitedly shared with his followers: “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.”
Tragically, the former One Direction singer fell from a third-floor balcony at a hotel in Buenos Aires, Argentina, on October 16, leading to his untimely death.
A body was found in an internal patio of the Casa Sur Palermo hotel shortly after 5 pm local time, with reports stating he suffered “severe injuries which were incompatible with life”.
