Chery Tweedy broke fans’ hearts all over again on Friday night as she posted an unseen photo of Liam Payne with son Bear as she spoke for the first time on the tragedy.
Looking the image of new father bliss, Liam could be seen gazing adoringly at his little boy as he reached out a hand to him in the touching black and white photo.
While Cheryl and Liam had their ups and downs – splitting just after Bear turned one – as they navigating co-parenting, there was no doubt that the One Direction star always had his son in mind even in his darkest moments. Speaking last night, Cheryl said her heart broke for their son who would have to ‘face the reality that he would never see his father again.’
Liam died on Wednesday evening from his injuries after falling from a third-floor balcony at the CasaSur hotel in Buenos Aires, Argentina. The news shocked fans around the world who had watched the Wolverhampton-born star from his eager first X Factor audition to becoming a part of one of the biggest boybands of all time with One Direction.
His extraordinary success – from the young age of 16 – saw Liam amass a huge fortune by the time he became a dad at 23.
Cheryl paid a heartbreaking tribute to Liam Payne and shared an unseen photo of the dad with son Bear
Liam is said to have been worth £46million. In an emotional interview in 2022, Liam suggested all of his money was going to son Bear.
The One Direction star said: “My life now is his, my money is his. I have actually got several companies that are up and running that I know he can run one day if he wants to or [he can sell them].”
Liam also helped pay for a £4million home for Cheryl and Bear in the Buckinghamshire village of Chalfont St Peter. When he split with Cheryl, Liam then splashed out on a home nearby.
Describing co-parenting with Cheryl, Liam called her “the best mum in the world” and thanked her for giving him “full autonomy” to pursue his career – and later address his mental health battles – while taking care of Bear.
In July last year, Liam revealed he had completed 100 days in a Louisiana rehab after hitting ‘rock bottom’, he thanked Cheryl for her support.
Liam became a dad at the age of 23 and vowed to give everything to his boy
Cheryl said her ‘heart breaks’ for her son who would now grow up without a dad
“More than anything, I want to say thank you to [Bear] and his mum for giving me a little bit of freedom to go and get well in that moment because I had to,” he admitted.
Speaking about how often he sees his boy in 2022, Liam said” “I see him two times a week, three times a week sometimes. And I make sure when I see him, he has 100 percent of my time. I make sure that I’m not on my phone or d*****g around somewhere else.
“So, 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.”
In one of his last posts about Bear before he died, Liam fondly described the youngster as his ‘mini me.’
In heartbreaking scenes, Liam’s own dad was seen at the Casa Sur Hotel in Argentina hours after Cheryl’s tribute.
Geoff Payne, father of Liam Payne, visits the fan tributes for the late former One Direction member outside Casa Sur Hotel
Geoff Payne was pictured in a navy suit exiting the Casa Sur Hotel in the Argentine capital, where the 31-year-old British star fell from a third floor balcony on Wednesday. Mr Payne is said to have flown to the country to organise the repatriation of his son.
The grieving father was seen visiting tributes laid out by fans outside the hotel, reading letters and pausing around flowers, photographs and candles. It comes after the singer’s family said they were “heartbroken” following his death, adding: “Liam will forever live in our hearts and we’ll remember him for his kind, funny and brave soul.”
Girls Aloud singer Cheryl also shared her devastation as she spoke for the first time on Liam’s death on Friday. The pair enjoyed a high-profile relationship between 2016 and 2018.
The growing memorial included flowers, notes, and memorabilia
“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 in a post on Instagram.
Sharing a black and white picture of Payne in bed with his young son Bear, she added: “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 reality of never seeing his father again.”
The 41-year-old concluded the statement urging people to give Payne “the little dignity he has left in the wake of his death to rest in some peace at last”.
Her statement came after Payne’s girlfriend Kate Cassidy said she was at a “complete loss” following his death. “Nothing about the past few days have felt real,” she said in a post on her Instagram story.
“Liam, my angel, you are everything. I want you to know I loved you unconditionally and completely. I will continue to love you for the rest of my life. I love you Liam.”
Meanwhile music mogul Simon Cowell said he was “truly devastated” after the death of the singer, adding that he also felt “heartbroken” and “empty”.
Payne found fame alongside Niall Horan, Louis Tomlinson, Zayn Malik and Harry Styles when The X Factor creator Cowell put them together to form One Direction on the ITV talent show in 2010.
Liam Payne’s girlfriend Kate Cassidy thanked fans for the outpouring of support
“Every tear I have shed is a memory of you,” he wrote in a statement on Instagram. The 65-year-old titan of the music industry said his son Bear “will be so proud of everything you achieved, and how you achieved it”.
Payne first auditioned for The X Factor in 2008 when he was 14, singing Frank Sinatra’s Fly Me To The Moon, with judge Cowell telling him to return to the talent show two years later. In 2010 he impressed the judges with a rendition of Michael Buble’s Cry Me A River before being put with four other solo hopefuls at the boot camp stage of the competition – the group which later became One Direction.
“I had to tell you when you were 14 that this wasn’t your time. And we both made a promise that we would meet again. A lot of people would have given up. You didn’t,” Cowell said. He also said that Payne had visited him last year where they “reminisced about all of the fun times we had together”.
“After you left, I was reminded that you were still the sweet, kind boy I had met all of those years ago,” he added.
It came after Horan was the last bandmate to share a touching tribute, saying he will “cherish every moment” he had with Payne “forever”. Payne was spotted dancing at Horan’s show around two weeks ago at the Movistar Arena alongside his girlfriend Cassidy in Argentina.
“I feel so fortunate that I got to see him recently. I sadly didn’t know that after saying goodbye and hugging him that evening, I would be saying goodbye forever. It’s heartbreaking,” Horan wrote.
Payne’s other bandmembers also paid separate emotional tributes on social media, while a joint statement from the band said they were “completely devastated” and will miss the singer “terribly”, adding the “memories we shared with him will be treasured forever”.
The singer died of multiple traumas and “internal and external haemorrhage”, a post-mortem examination report said. Argentina’s National Criminal and Correctional Prosecutor’s Office No 16 said it was investigating the incident as an “inconclusive death” following the report.
