Bear Grey Payne: Everything we know about Liam Payne and Cheryl's son

It's fair to say that Bear Grey Payne is one of the more mysterious celebrity children out there. His mother, Cheryl Tweedy, kept her pregnancy almost entirely secret, and his father, the late Liam Payne, also kept him private. Sadly, the news was announced in October 2024 that Liam had tragically passed away following an accident in Argentina.

Since Bear's birth in 2017, Cheryl and Liam kept their son mostly out of the spotlight - other than a few pictures of his cute little hands and feet on Instagram, and THAT adorable clip of him talking. Here's everything we know about Bear Payne...

How did they announce his birth?

To announce his birth, Liam and Cheryl shared a polaroid photo on Instagram of Liam holding the little'un. Liam wrote: 'My close friends and family know there are very few times when I'm left speechless... wow!

'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!'

When was Bear Grey Payne born?

Cheryl and Liam's son Bear was born on Wednesday 22nd March 2017, making him currently seven-years-old. Sharing the above photo on Instagram, Liam and Cheryl both took to the social media site to post about their new arrival before throwing a 'meet the baby' party.

Cheryl wrote: 'On Wednesday 22nd March Liam and I became parents to an incredibly beautiful, healthy baby boy, weighing 7lb 9 and looking like a dream. Although he still doesn't have a name he is already stealing hearts.

'We are all madly in love and overwhelmingly happy with our little arrival. Happy Mother's Day to all the mothers around the world. A day that now has a different meaning to me forever 💙'.

Why did they name him Bear?

Liam and Cheryl announced the unusual name Bear Grey Payne a few weeks after his birth, and both have revealed the inspiration behind the unique moniker. In an interview on The Late Late Show with James Corden, Liam opened up about baby name inspiration.

He said: "You know what? When he was born, I think one of the midwives said it, he actually has this thing where if they don't have a good cry, they get fluid on their lungs which is quite serious.

"So he was going 'grrr', growling away when he was sleeping, so I had specialists running in and out of the hospital while my missus was asleep and he was being checked over, and they were like, 'Oh, I'm not really sure, we'll get someone else in.'

"And I had like, ten doctors coming in the room and in the end, one guy was like, 'Dude I'm not being funny, there's nothing wrong with him, just likes to make a lot of noise'. And that's carried on ever since, so he just became Bear."

Cheryl also opened up about his name in an interview on Lorraine in October 2017, telling Simon Cowell she didn't want Bear to have a common name.

But she echoed Liam's original story in November 2019, speaking on RuPaul's What's The Tee podcast about Bear's name: "When I was in the hospital, he used to make these noises. We had specialists coming in to see what was going on, he was breathing like – quite cute but nothing worrisome.

"It was just him. The midwife used to come in and say: ‘How’s the little bear?’ I didn’t have the name prior… I couldn’t get the nickname out of my mind. We toyed with others but I didn’t want him to be the third and such and such in his class. I wanted him to have a unique name."

What does Bear Payne look like?

Good question! Cheryl and Liam chose to keep their son out of the spotlight as much as possible, and only show small glimpses of him in their photos on social media. As Liam celebrated his 24th birthday in August 2017 - his first as a father to Bear - he shared a rare snap of his son.

In August 2024, just months before his incredibly sad passing, Liam spoke about his son as he celebrated his own 31st birthday.

He said at the time: "I didn't get any dad socks yet thought. I'm going to speak to my son in a little bit which I'm really excited about. Bless him. He's getting so big now.

"He's a big boy and he looks like a mini me. As if we needed any more me in the world."

Pictures of Bear Grey Payne

The 'Strip That Down' singer took to Instagram to tell his fans he's had the 'best birthday ever', but it was the cute photo that really sent his fans into meltdown. Liam shared two photos of his tattooed hand along with baby Bear's cute hand, however the post has since been removed.

Liam had also previously shared a photo of Bear wearing some cute trainers with a matching pair for himself, when the singer returned home from America, and his former 1D bandmate Niall Horan also bought Bear some trainers.

Some fans also caught sight of Bear whilst sharing the same flight as Cheryl and her son once from the Maldives when he was very little. Cheryl also once shared an adorable story about how Bear had made friends on another flight to LA.

Although they were few and far between, Liam and Cheryl did continue to very occasionally post photos of their son. On Valentine's Day 2018, Liam shared a photo of Bear wearing an adorable top, with the caption: 'Happy Valentine's Day @CherylOfficial and everyone. Looks like I've got the big guy to compete with now'.

He also shared another photo of Bear on his first birthday, despite the fact that he couldn't be there himself for the big day - which unfortunately happened once again on Bear's second birthday. He wrote: 'Can’t believe my little man is one today, where does the time go? Happy birthday son you’re my world🌍🐻.' The post have since been removed.

Cheryl shared a few photos of her son on her Instagram Story on New Year's Day 2018, which fans absolutely adored! He also appeared in a video on her Instagram Story on her birthday.

But the cutest photo of all has to be the one Liam shared a few days before his 26th birthday in 2019, posting a picture of himself teaching Bear to play the piano.

Cheryl also posted an adorable photo of her and Bear's matching Christmas pyjamas in December 2019, and also shared a cute snap of herself and Bear enjoying themselves at Winter Wonderland.

It was a similar story for Christmas 2022, as Cheryl posted a video to her Instagram featuring Bear meeting Santa during a festive trip to Lapland.

Cheryl, who took the trip with her BFF Kimberley Walsh and her three young sons, wrote on Instagram: 'Thank you for the Christmas magic💫✨🥰 @laplanduk

'Wishing you all the warmest wishes for Christmas 🎄🎅🏼🤶🏼🙏🏼'. (sic)

Bear attended Cheryl's 40th birthday celebrations at the beginning of July 2023, where he briefly appeared on his mum's Instagram Reel, wearing the most adorable black suit.

To celebrate the release of his single 'Teardrops' in March 2024, Liam shared a cute photo of Bear looking at his dad's Spotify billboard.

He captioned the shot with: 'I want to be on a billboard one day daddy 🐻 ❤️'.

What does Bear Payne sound like?

In April 2020, Cheryl uploaded a video of herself and Bear having a conversation to her Instagram Story. Although she kept the camera on her own face, Bear's cute little voice could be heard for the first time, as he shouts: "I want to go to the park".

But of course, with the lockdown rules in April 2020, Cheryl was quick to remind Bear that wasn't possible, suggesting a walk instead, to which he quickly agreed by saying: "Let's go for a walk... Yes!"

Fans were over the moon at hearing Bear's little Geordie accent for the first time.

In December 2020, Cheryl shared another adorable video of Bear's little voice, this time of him recreating iconic Home Alone line 'filthy animals'.

In the video, Bear can be heard shouting: "Merry Christmas you filthy animals and a Happy New Year", just like Kevin McCallister does in the popular festive movie.

Does Bear go to school?

During an interview on Good Morning America in September 2020, Liam seemed to suggest Bear had just started school! He said: "I've just had a birthday, my son has gone to school for the first time. So it seems like a lot of firsts for me really actually which is great!"

However, it is most likely Liam meant his son had started nursery at the time, as the school starting age in the UK is four-years-old.

Although Bear is now seven, it's not been made public which school he attends.

Why aren't there many photos of Bear?

The answer to this is very simple - they want to give him as normal a life as possible. Speaking to The Telegraph in September 2017, Liam said: "We’ve only shown him in glimpses. We don’t want him to have the pressure that me and Cheryl have, as household names. We want him to enjoy himself first and then figure it out."

However, Liam had always been more forthcoming with details and stories about his son, despite Cheryl wanting him not to, including one about teaching Bear another language and another about him communicating with ghosts! Liam also revealed that Bear become emotional when they sang together, and opened up about when Bear took his first steps and said his first word, admitting that being a father made him a better person.

The former couple also gushed about their son often in interviews. Liam often praised Cheryl's skills as a mother, and also posted a beautiful tribute to her on Mother's Day 2020 - which happened to fall on Bear's third birthday.

Speaking to Tings Magazine in November 2020, Liam also spoke about the former couple's decision to keep Bear out of the spotlight. He said: "I get to be a dad and have a family in that way, that's complete opposite of that zone.

"It's mine for my own, except for Cheryl and Bear."

Does Bear know he has famous parents?

It sounds like he does! After Girls Aloud reunited and took part in an interview with British Vogue to celebrate, Cheryl revealed her son is now aware that his mum, and late father, are both famous.

She told the publication: “The problem is that I want Bear 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.’”

Remembering Liam Payne

On 16th October 2024, it was announced that Liam had tragically passed away, at the age of just 31. It was reported at the time that he had died following a fall from a hotel balcony, while on holiday in Buenos Aires, Argentina.

Tributes poured in for the former One Direction singer, including from the likes of Dermot O'Leary, Olly Murs, Rylan Clark, Marvin Humes, JLS, McFly, Charlie Puth, Brian Friedman and Zedd.

Read all of the tributes to Liam Payne right here.

Cheryl Tweedy and Liam Payne relationship timeline:

Now read:

Cheryl: Everything you need to know about the Girls Aloud singer

Cheryl shares rare photo of son Bear as they enjoy festive trip

69 fascinating facts about the lovely Liam Payne

How to listen to Northsound 1:

For great music, brilliant banter and incredible competitions tune into Northsound 1 on 96.9, 97.6 or 103.0 FM, online, on our Northsound app, your DAB digital radio, or say ‘Play Northsound 1’ on your Smart Speaker. We give you the biggest hits from the world’s hottest artists. You’ll find new favourites every day and hear the songs you've missed from the last few years.

• cheryl
• Liam Payne
• Bear Grey Payne