Cheryl Cole and Ex-Boyfriend Liam Payne’s Best Quotes About Coparenting Their Son Bear

Credit: David Fisher/Shutterstock

Cheryl Cole and Ex-Boyfriend Liam Payne's Best Quotes About Coparenting Their Son Bear

Teamwork makes the dream work! Though Cheryl Cole and Liam Payne’s romance did not pan out, they’ve remained dedicated coparents to their son, Bear.

The former Girls Aloud performer and Payne began dating in February 2015, nearly two years before Cole confirmed her pregnancy.

“My close friends and family know there are very few times when I’m left speechless… wow!” the One Direction alum captioned an Instagram photo with his newborn son in March 2017. “I’m incredibly happy to welcome our new baby boy into the world, it’s a moment that I will never forget for the rest of my life and my favourite memory I have so far. I’m completely in awe of his incredible mother and how she has been the whole way through this, she’s really made my dreams come true. We haven’t named him yet but he’s already capturing hearts including mine. I feel very blessed. Happy Mother’s Day everyone!”

After more than two years together, the twosome announced their split in July 2018.

“Cheryl and I are sad to announce that we are going our separate ways,” the “Strip That Down” crooner tweeted at the time. “It’s been a tough decision for us to make. We still have so much love for each other as a family. Bear is our world and we ask that you respect his privacy as we navigate our way through this together.”

Since then, the England natives have continued coparenting, marveling at Bear’s many milestones along the way.

“Sometimes he’ll sort of have a go at his mum and I’ll be like, ‘Bear, stop it,’” Payne exclusively told Us Weekly in May 2019, noting he and the former X Factor judge got “really lucky” to have a well-behaved little one. “He just wouldn’t listen to me today. … He just wants to silence me with his hand. He’s like, ‘Just give me a minute. I’m busy.’”

He continued: “My mum brought all my old toys to the house, and then Cheryl came one day to my house and she was like, ‘Oh, he’s playing with this red car all the time. It was yours.’ I was like, ‘Is it a Jaguar?’ And it was my favorite car when I was [young]. So he’s literally like a little me.”

In addition to raising Bear, the “Bedroom Floor” musician eventually moved on with Maya Henry, getting engaged in August 2020. After a brief split in June 2021, the twosome reconciled that October. Us later confirmed in May 2022 that they split for good amid photos of Payne getting cozy with another woman.

“I love all of the fans so much but please stop sending me these pictures of my fiancé wrapped around another woman,” the Texas native wrote via Instagram comment at the time. “This is not me and it’s hard enough knowing this has happened without seeing it. Enough now.”

Scroll below for more of Cole and Payne’s honest quotes about coparenting:

Credit: David Fisher/Shutterstock

Putting Her Foot Down With Bear

“I’m the strict one; Liam isn’t,” the “Call My Name” songstress told The Telegraph in April 2019. “I’ll be the one saying, ‘Just one square of chocolate,’ but Bear is so good. If I get cross with him he puts his little hands on my face and looks into my eyes to see if I’m deadly serious or a tiny bit cross, and it melts my heart.”

She continued: “[Liam is] much softer than me. But it is what it is, and I’m OK about it. When you have a baby, you are not consumed with just thinking about yourself. It’s your responsibility to keep things settled and happy, so you make the best of everything. And we have.”

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A Recipe for Success

“As a dad, I think one of the hardest parts at the start of it all is to feel as involved as possible,” Payne told Us in May 2019. “One of my biggest tips I would say is cooking, because if you’re cooking and you’re looking after her and she’s looking after [your kid], then you’re looking after everybody. And you want to feel like that part of the unit … so cooking was always a really big thing for me at the start.”

Credit: BabiradPicture/Shutterstock

One Big Holiday

The exes have even spent the Christmas holiday together.

“I’m going to go down and see Bear, maybe cook a Christmas dinner and just hang out with family,” Payne said on the ITV’s This Morning in December 2019. “I like to do Sunday roasts. It brings you back to normality. We’re going to go down and cook some good food and hang out. … I think it’s the first time [Bear] really gets Christmas now. I want to see if he actually gets unwrapping presents this year though because otherwise, it’ll just be Cheryl by the tree again.”

Credit: BabiradPicture/Shutterstock

COVID Health Decisions

Amid the coronavirus pandemic, Bear primarily resided with the Greatest Dancer mentor.

“[Lockdown] is the longest I haven’t seen [Bear] in his life,” Payne told Tings magazine in October 2020. “But we discussed from the start and for different reasons, me and Cheryl decided I should be away for a little bit, it’s not unusual for me to be in and out of his life.”

The One Direction: This Is Us star further noted via Instagram at the time that quarantine was “a difficult time for any parent.”

Credit: David Fisher/Shutterstock

An ‘Amazing’ Mother

Following their breakup, the “Sunshine” musician has still praised Cole's parenting duties.

“Double special day today thanks to 2 very special ladies and a very special little man,” he tweeted in March 2020, celebrating the U.K. holiday. “Happy Mother’s Day mum and Cheryl you two are the most amazing mothers Bear and I could have asked for, thanks for raising me right and thank you Cheryl for showing my son all the love in the world.”

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Making It Work

“I went and saw Bear today. We had a little hangout, which was quite nice,” Payne said during a January 2021 Instagram Live video. “I hadn't seen him in a couple of weeks. It's hard with the COVID thing because I have to make sure that I'm negative before I go over and see him, so it's having to wait that couple of days before you can test. … He's gotten so big. He's huge!"

Credit: James Veysey/Shutterstock

For the Better

In May 2022, the singer opened up about originally struggling with fatherhood in his early 20s. "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 [that] I wouldn't love him enough," Payne told Logan Paul on his "Impaulsive" podcast.

The former band member also praised his ex for their healthy coparenting relationship.

"She is the best mom in the world. I couldn't ask for someone better," he added. "I get to take my son to school one or two times a week and it's the best thing. 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."