Liam Payne surprised fans by sharing a glimpse into his life as a dad in a new photo — and it appears son Bear, 6, wants to be just like him one day.
“I want to be on a billboard one day daddy,” Payne, 30, captioned an adorable snapshot he posted to X of his little one on Friday, March 1.
In the sweet image, Bear (who turns 7 on March 22) is sporting a gold coat with his back turned toward the camera and is lovingly gazing up at a giant billboard of Liam in London’s Leicester Square that is promoting his new single “Teardrops.”
Payne shares his only child with his ex Cheryl Cole, who is also a singer. They initially met in 2010 when he auditioned for The X Factor when she was one of the judges. They started to date in February 2016. Then, nearly two years later, Cole, now 40, announced she was pregnant with the couple’s first child. Bear was born in March 2017.
Cole and Payne eventually split and ended up coparenting. While Payne moved on with girlfriend Kate Cassidy in 2022, the former One Directioner has gushed about Cole’s parenting since their breakup.
“She is the best mom in the world. I couldn’t ask for someone better,” the pop star raved during a March 2022 appearance on the “Impaulsive With Logan Paul” podcast. “The relationship we have now as friends has only grown more. We broke up for a reason and now she gives me full autonomy of my life and to do what I do and I know [Bear’s] taken care of. He is all she cares about and I couldn’t ask for more. They live, like, three minutes from my house.”
Since welcoming their son, both Payne and Cole have tried to keep him out of the public eye for the most part and hardly ever post images of him. However, every once in a while, the former One Direction star can’t help but gush about his little boy.
“Time with Bear’s been really, really great,” Payne dished last year in a YouTube video. “He’s far smarter than I think I’ll ever be. He’s a wonder, but he’s definitely learning to talk at this moment in time and it’s a lot of fun to be around to watch him grow.”
At the time, Payne even recalled a funny dad moment he had when Bear called him out for his spelling mistake.
“[Bear] actually texted me the other day from his iPad saying, ‘Hello, Dad.'”
Liam said he responded by typing back “‘ello,” to which Bear wasn’t a fan of and caused him to respond, “‘No, no, it’s not ello, it’s hello with an H.’”
