Liam Payne gave an ultra rare insight into life as a dad with his seven-year-old son Bear months before his tragic death.

The One Direction star had kept his family out of the spotlight and only shares a few snaps of his son over the years. He shared his little boy with Girls Aloud’s Cheryl, having welcomed Bear in March 2017. The pair split just after Bear’s first birthday,

Back in May, Liam, 30, took to his Instagram account to share a snap of Bear wearing a yellow coat, looking at a huge poster of the singer. He captioned the sweet photo: “I want to be on a billboard one day Daddy.” Fans couldn’t believe how grown up Bear was looking after his parents made the decision to keep him out of the public eye.

“HOW IS HE SO BIG?” one asked. Another added: “He’s so big, it seems like he was born yesterday.”

Someone else commented: “Bear is an amazing boy he’s his father’s biggest supporter.” A fourth wrote: “Oh no that’s so cute I can’t,” as another asked: “He’s already that big???” Last year mum Cheryl, 40, spoke about son Bear and how he had finally found out his parents are famous. The stars hadbeen co-parenting their son following their split, as they both decided to keep Bear out of the public eye.

Liam shared a rare snap of son Bear ( 

Image:

instagram/@liampayne)

Cheryl (L) and Liam Payne

The One Direction star welcomed Bear with Girls Aloud’s Cheryl

 

Neither have ever shared a photo of Bear’s face and despite him being kept away from the limelight, he now understands his mum and dad are very famous. Cheryl admitted that Bear finds it ‘pretty cool’ that his folks are celebrities. Speaking to British Vogue Cheryl insisted that she’s determined for her son to have a ‘normal childhood’.

“I don’t want people recognising 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.”

Cheryl opened up on Bear not being “her baby anymore” as she gushed: “We blinked and we’re here almost seven.”

Heartbreakingly, Liam said he had dreamed of being a dad from the age of 16 and was determined to settle down and have a quiet life with Cheryl. However, their relationship started to unravel just after Bear turned one.

Liam has even claimed that Bear’s arrival “ruined” their relationship, but for “all the right reasons”. The exes live close to each other so they can both be around son Bear.

“She is the best mum in the world. I couldn’t ask for someone better,” he told Logan Paul’s podcast Impaulsive. Liam shared: “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 he’s [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. I always glue myself to where he is. My life now is his. My money is his. He’s a lovely, lovely boy. We’ve been blessed.”

MIRROR