Inside Liam Payne’s high-profile romances: From Cheryl Cole to Maya Henry, here's everyone he dated

The world of music came to a standstill on October 16 when it was revealed that former One Direction band member Liam Payne had passed away. The 31-year-old reportedly fell off the balcony of his third-floor room in Buenos Aires, Argentina—read all the details here.

Throughout his life, he was often in the spotlight not just for his music but also for his relationships.

A look into Liam Payne’s love life - here’s everyone he dated

Kate Cassidy (2022-2024)

Payne’s most recent relationship was with American influencer Kate Cassidy, 25. The couple began dating in late 2022 and had an on-again-off-again relationship, as they briefly split in May 2023 before reconciling. They were first spotted at a Halloween party, with Payne later making their romance public.

As per The Independent, the influencer previously said that she has been a fan of the One Direction singer since she was young, and believes that she 'manifested' the relationship.

Cassidy was with Payne in Argentina, but she returned home two days before his death. She said, when she left the country:

I honestly loved South America but I hate staying in one place for too long. We were supposed to stay for five days but it turned into two weeks and I was just like ‘I need to go home.'

After his death, Cassidy wrote on Instagram that her heart has been 'shattered'. She said:

I wish you could see the huge impact you’ve had on the world, even as it feels so dark right now.

In a tragic confession, she said that Liam had written her a note a few weeks ago that he didn't want her to open yet. In it, the singer wrote:

Me and Kate to marry within a year/engaged & together forever 444.

Indeed, the singer was planning to take the next step with Cassidy within the next year. She continued:

Liam, I know we’ll be together forever, but not in the way we had planned.

Aliana Mawla (2022)

Before getting together with Kate Cassidy, Payne briefly dated model Aliana Mawla in 2022. The pair reportedly met while working on the music video for Payne’s song Familiar. At the time, rumours were rife that Payne cheated on his ex-fiancé Maya Henry with Aliana.

Maya Henry (2018-2022)

One of Payne’s most publicised relationships was with model Maya Henry. The two began dating in 2018 and went public a year later in September 2019. Payne proposed to Maya in 2020, reports Heart. The two split in June 2021 and briefly reconciled in late 2021 only to break up again in 2022 amid allegations of infidelity.

Maya is understood to be one of Payne’s most serious relationships, however the two have not been on good terms since their breakup.

Maya has claimed that he was continuously trying to contact her even after two years of their split. Earlier this month, Maya posted a TikTok alleging that Payne had taken ‘extreme’ measures to attempt to contact her. She said:

Ever since we broke up, he messages me, will blow up my phone, not only from his phone number, it’s always from different phone numbers, so I never know where it’s going to come from.

Just a week before Payne’s death, Maya's lawyers issued a cease-and-desist order against him because of his alleged obsessive behaviour.

Moreover, two days before Payne’s death, Maya stated in a podcast that the singer always ‘predicted he would die early,’ reports MailOnline. Maya claimed she tried to get help for him as he often ‘played with death.’

Talking about her relationship with the singer, Maya said on The Internet is Dead podcast:

He would always message me after we broke up, he would say, "I'm not well". He would always play with death, and be like "Well I'm going to die, I'm not doing well". I know the lifestyle that he lives and there is a day that something is going to happen.'

So I would always be like, OK, he's saying these things, I am going to have to help him because I am not going to be able to live with myself if something happens to him.

Cheryl Cole (2016-2018)

Payne's relationship with Cheryl Cole was certainly unconventional, given the 10-year age gap between the two. In fact, the very first time they met was when a 14-year-old Payne auditioned for the X Factor, where Cheryl Cole was a judge. However their romance didn't start until almost a decade later in 2016. At the time, Payne was 23 years old.

The two began dating and even welcomed a child together in 2017 - Bear Grey Payne, who is now seven years old. Even though the couple broke up in 2018, Payne always praised Cheryl for being the ‘best person’ to co-parent with. He said in 2022 while talking to Logan Paul in his podcast Impulsive:

I couldn't ask someone better. The relationship we have with each other now as friends has only grown more.

We broke up for a reason and now, she gives me full autonomy of my own life to be able to go and do what I do and at the same time I know he's been taken care of because he's all she cares about. You couldn't ask for more.

According to The Tab, the alleged reason was that Liam's hectic schedule meant that he wasn't able to spend time with Cheryl. He was promoting his solo career at the time. However, as per Hello!, in 2022 Liam hinted that it may have to do with their transition from being a couple, to parents of their son. He said on the same podcast with Paul:

You don't know what is coming and it's different.

And to be honest with you, it ruined a relationship for me at that point but for all the right reasons. I was so excited for him to be born that I was actually worried if I wouldn't love him enough.

His other relationships

Before Cheryl, Payne was with his childhood friend Sophia Smith from 2013 to 2015, but they broke up because Sophia wasn’t ready to settle down. From 2010 to 2012, Payne dated dancer Danielle Peazer and their relationship ended due Payne's rising fame with One Direction.

He is even rumoured to have dated Naomi Campbell in 2019. As reported by Page Six, fans started to notice that they had been exchanging flirty messages on each other's social media posts which lead to the speculation that something was going on between the two stars.

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Sources used:

Elle: A Complete Timeline Of Liam Payne’s Dating History

Heart: Liam Payne ex-girlfriends and dating history including Maya Henry, Cheryl and Naomi Campbell

Daily Mail: Liam Payne's ex-fiancée Maya Henry claimed star 'predicted he would die early' and she 'tried to get him help' before balcony tragedy

The Independent: Who is Liam Payne’s girlfriend Kate Cassidy? Inside One Direction singer’s last relationship before death

Page Six: Liam Payne’s dating history: His girlfriends and exes

People: Liam Payne and Cheryl's Relationship: A Look Back

The Tab: Liam Payne and Cheryl’s relationship: From how it started to the reason they broke up