Liam Payne And Cheryl Made Tough Decision To Make Sure Their Son Bear Has A ‘Normal’ Life
Following the tragic death of Liam Payne, fans have been left wondering why there are no photos of his son Bear – and it appears he and Cheryl came to a tough decision
Liam Payne and his ex-girlfriend Cheryl were united in their desire to protect their son Bear from the spotlight.
The One Direction singer, who tragically died last month at the age of 31 after falling from a hotel balcony in Argentina, shared a son with Cheryl, whom they welcomed in 2017. Despite their split in 2018, the pair were committed to giving Bear a normal childhood, away from the pressures of fame.
In a 2017 interview, Liam revealed that they took many photos of Bear but chose not to share them online, saying: “[Cheryl] has her rest time bonding with Bear at the start. She’s an incredible, a natural mum. We take a million pictures of Bear but we want him to be able to decide what he wants to share when he’s older.”
Cheryl echoed this sentiment in a 2023 interview with British Vogue, expressing her desire for Bear to have a normal childhood and not be recognized on the street due to his parents’ fame. She recalled a conversation with Bear, who had begun to realize his parents were famous, saying: “I don’t want people recognizing him on the street.
“But he’s twigged that I’m famous. The other day he said, ‘How lucky am I to have famous parents?’ I said, ‘It doesn’t matter’. He goes, ‘Yeah. But it’s pretty cool’.”
Liam disclosed that they had taken measures to shield Bear from the spotlight back in 2021. In an interview with Stephen Bartlett on The Diary Of A CEO podcast, he explained: “Obviously, we protected his identity to start off with, and that’s not being pretentious or anything other than the fact that I want to give him a chance to be Bear first before he has to be, ‘Oh, your mum and dad are so and so’ you know. And I made my choice to be where I was at 14 [or] 15, so I figure he can make his own choice then too.”
Both Liam and Cheryl opted not to reveal Bear’s face, however, it’s reported that he shares a striking resemblance to his father, as Liam mentioned in a 2020 interview with People magazine: “He looks exactly like me, which is very strange. When family members see baby pictures of me now, they say, ‘Oh wow, Bear looks really great there!’.”
In 2018, a year after Bear’s birth, Cheryl and Liam announced their separation after two-and-a-half years together, but vowed to remain close to raise their son. A statement read: “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.”
Liam opened up in 2022 about the precious moments he spends with his son, noting the importance of giving him his undivided attention. “I see him two times a week, three times a week sometimes,” he said.
Liam continued: “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***ing 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.”
