Unfazed. Cheryl Cole has stepped out for the first time since announcing that she and Liam Payne have split after more than two years of dating.
The “Call My Name” singer, 35, smiled for cameras while attending Simon Cowell‘s Syco Summer Party in London on Monday, July 9. She wore an orange off-the-shoulder dress with gold strappy shoes, which coordinated with her earrings.
Cole and the former One Director singer, 24, got together years after meeting on the set of The X Factor in 2008. They went public with their romance in February 2016 and welcomed son Bear, now 13 months, in March 2017.
The former Girls Aloud singer, however, would go on to announce their breakup on July 1 — a day after her birthday. “We are sad to announce that we are going our separate ways. 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,” she tweeted. Payne later shared a tweet that echoed Cole’s statement.
The X Factor judge took to Twitter a day later to address rumors that her mother, Joan Callaghan, played a role in the demise of their relationship. “I hate responding to stuff esp at such difficult times but I cannot sit here and listen to such nasty, false articles regarding my mam. I don’t know why they involve her in stores about me. I can assure you she has absolutely nothing to do with any of it. I am a grown woman who is capable of dealing with my own life,” Cole wrote. “She is a soft and kind woman who doesn’t deserve to be dragged into something that has nothing whatsoever to do with her.”
Rumors that there was trouble in paradise followed the pair for months. In March, Payne told London’s ES magazine, “The funniest thing was a week before we were getting married. The next week we’re splitting up … I’m not gonna sit here and say that everything’s absolutely fine and dandy, because of course you go through different things, and that’s what a relationship is.” Cole, meanwhile, addressed cheating rumors on Twitter by writing, “I can’t ignore this story involving an innocent dancer colleague of Liam’s who has a fiancé, and dragging them into this desperate attempt to try to cause problems between Liam and I.”
