Liam Payne honestly opens up about relationship with son Bear
He's spent 100 days at a treatment centre in America
Last updated 12th Jul 2023
Following a tough few months, Liam Payne made his return to social media recently, uploading a YouTube video where he candidly opened up about his relationship with his son Bear Gray Payne, his comments about his One Direction band mates Harry Styles, Niall Horan, Louis Tomlinson and Zayn Malik, and the time he spent at a wellness centre in America.
Admitting he was without his phone for 100 days during a stay at a treatment facility in Louisiana, the 29-year-old revealed he is now six-months sober and said he now has "more of a grip on life."
Speaking about his relationship with six-year-old Bear, who he shares with ex-girlfriend Cheryl, Liam said: "Time with Bear’s been really, really great.
"More than anything, I want to say thank you to him and his mum for giving me a little bit of freedom to go and get well at that moment because I had to.
"There’s no point trying to be a dad when you’ve got nothing to teach and I don’t think up until this point I really had much to say to him other than just caring for him very deeply and loving him deeply, which is obviously the most important thing."
Recalling a recent moment where Bear text his dad, Liam added: "He actually texted me the other day from his iPad saying, 'Hello, Dad.' After Liam responded by saying 'ello', Bear replied: 'No, no, it's not ello it's hello with an H'.
"So, he’s learning really quickly. He's far smarter than I think I’ll ever be. He’s a wonder, but he’s definitely learning to talk at this moment in time and it’s a lot of fun to be around to watch him grow."
Check out Liam Payne's career below:
Early life
Liam James Payne was born in the Heath Town district of Wolverhampton on 29th August 1993, to parents Karen and Geoff Payne.
Liam attended St Peter's Collegiate School where he picked up an impressive 11 GCSEs, before later going on to attend Wolverhampton College's Paget Road campus, where he studied music technology.
At the age of just 12, Liam was a member of the Pink Productions Theatre Company, where he took on the role of Tony Manero during a production of Saturday Night Fever.
2008: The X Factor - First audition
A fresh-faced Liam auditioned for talent show The X Factor as a 14-year-old in 2008, singing 'Fly Me to the Moon' by Frank Sinatra.
Despite making it all the way to the Judges' Houses stage of the competition, Simon Cowell advised he should return in two years.
2010: The X Factor - Second audition
And he certainly did just that, returning for another audition in 2010 at the age of 16.
This time, Liam performed a rendition of Michael Bublé's 'Cry Me A River', where he received a standing ovation from judges Simon, Cheryl, Louis and Nicole, as well as the studio audience.
Despite being one of the favourites to win the show, Liam failed to progress to Judges' Houses, but his journey wasn't over just yet...
2010: One Direction are formed on The X Factor
Thanks to the genius idea from guest judge Nicole Scherzinger, Liam was placed into a boyband alongside fellow auditionees Harry Styles, Zayn Malik, Louis Tomlinson and Niall Horan, forming One Direction.
The boys immediately clicked, going all the way to the final and finishing in fourth place behind Cher Lloyd, Rebecca Ferguson and winner Matt Cardle.
2010-2015: One Direction's global domination
Following their birth on The X Factor, One Direction went on to become the biggest boyband on the planet, releasing five studio albums and winning over 200 awards worldwide.
The group also achieved 4 UK Number 1 songs, including tracks 'What Makes You Beautiful', 'Little Things', 'One Way Or Another' and 'Drag Me Down'.
2016: One Direction begin their hiatus
After Zayn Malik left the group in 2015, Liam, along with Harry, Niall and Louis, carried on with the band for another year, releasing their final album 'Made In The A.M.' before starting their hiatus in 2016.
2016: Liam signs solo record deal
After months of rumours about his own music, Liam signed his first ever solo record deal with Republic Records in October 2016.
2017: Liam drops his first solo single 'Strip That Down'
Fans were delighted in May 2017 when Liam released an upbeat track called 'Strip That Down', written by the one and only Ed Sheeran.
The track performed very well in the charts, reaching Number 3 in the Official UK Charts and Number 10 on the US Billboard Hot 100.
2017: Liam drops follow-up singles 'Get Low' and 'Bedroom Floor'
Following on from the success of his debut single 'Strip That Down', Liam teamed up with Zedd to release 'Get Low', before dropping bonus track 'Bedroom Floor'.
2018: Liam teams up with Rita Ora for Fifty Shades track
Liam joined forces with pop star Rita Ora in January 2018, with the pair duetting on hit single 'For You'. The song acted as the lead single from the soundtrack of the film Fifty Shades Freed.
Liam and Rita gave a number of amazing performances of the track, including at Hits Live and The BRIT Awards 2018.
2018: Liam's 'Strip That Down' receives two BRIT nominations
Liam picked up his first ever solo BRIT Award nominations at the 2018 ceremony, with his debut single 'Strip That Down' being nominated in the British Single and British Artist Video of the Year categories.
Unfortunately, Liam missed out on winning the awards on the night in February.
2018: Liam delays album and releases first EP
Following a successful year, Liam released his debut EP (extended play) in August 2018, featuring four tracks, including lead single 'First Time' with French Montana.
2018: Jonas Blue and Lennon Stella collab
Liam lent his vocals to DJ Jonas Blue's 2018 anthem 'Polaroid', alongside Canadian singer Lennon Stella. The track reached Number 12 on the UK Singes Chart and has since sold two million records.
2019: Another BRIT Award nomination
Liam received his third solo BRIT Award nomination at the 2019 awards, with himself and Rita Ora being nominated in the British Artist Video of the Year category for their track 'For You'.
Unfortunately, Liam and Rita missed out on the award to girl band Little Mix.
2019: Liam becomes Global Brand Ambassador for Hugo Boss
In May 2019, it was announced that Liam would become the first ever Global Brand Ambassador for fashion giant Hugo Boss.
2019: Liam releases his debut solo album 'LP1'
After confirming the release of his debut album had been postponed so he could make some adjustments (it was originally due for release in September 2018), Liam finally delighted fans in December 2019 when he released the album titled 'LP1'.
Liam took inspiration from Usher and Justin Timberlake for the album, featuring hits such as 'Familiar', 'Get Low', 'Strip That Down' and 'Stack It Up' featuring A Boogie wit da Hoodie.
'LP1' peaked at Number 17 on the Official UK Charts.
2019-2020: Christmas songs
Liam released his first ever Christmas song in 2019, a track called 'All I Want (For Christmas)', which was the first single off his debut solo album.
A year later in 2020, Liam teamed up with TikTok star Dixie D'Amelio to drop another Christmas hit, this time a track called 'Naughty List'.
2020: Hugo Boss x Liam Payne
After becoming the Global Brand Ambassador for Hugo Boss in 2019, Liam appeared in the fragrance campaign for their perfume Hugo Now in January 2020, before his capsule collection with the designer was launched in May 2020.
2020: Liam collabs with Alesso during lockdown
In an attempt to lift the spirits of his fans during the UK's 2020 lockdown, Liam teamed up with International DJ Alesso to drop the single 'Midnight'.
2021: 'Sunshine' and Ron's Gone Wrong
Liam released his first track of 2021 in October, a song called 'Sunshine' which features on 20th Century Studios animation Ron's Gone Wrong.
Liam also voices an animated character on the movie. He said: "I am such a big fan of Disney, so to be working on this is a dream come true. I can't wait for you all to hear Sunshine and to see "Ron's Gone Wrong." It has been a lot of fun!"
2022: Soccer Aid
Liam captained the England team, starring in a line-up alongside fellow musicians Tom Grennan and Aitch plus footballing legends Gary Neville and Teddy Sheringham. They went up against the World XI team made up of the likes of Usain Bolt, Munya Chawawa and Kem Cetinay, with footballer Patrice Evra adding to the more experienced side. Although the game ended 2-2, it went to penalties with the World team winning the game 4-1.
2023: Liam teases new music
Liam took to Instagram in January 2023 after a break to drop a hint that new music was on the way. Sharing a black-and-white photo of himself holding a phone to his ear, he shared the snap with the tongue-in-cheek caption: 'Please hold good times and music will be with you shortly 🎵.' Of course, fans went wild in the comments section, debating over when the new music would drop!
2023: Liam makes a return following time away from spotlight
In July 2023, Liam posted a YouTube video titled 'I'm back', where he candidly opened up about spending 100 days at a treatment centre in Louisiana, after becoming somebody who he didn't really recognise anymore.
Liam opened up about his relationship with his son Bear in the video, as well as apologising to his One Direction band mates for his comments during his time on Logan Paul's podcast.
In the candid vid, Liam revealed he's now in a better place and has more of a grip on life.
2023: South American tour dates
Liam announced he'd be heading over to South America to perform at dates in Peru, Colombia, Chile, Brazil, Argentina and Mexico throughout September. Sadly in August he revealed he would have to postpone his tour as he had a serious kidney infection.
2024: Liam releases new single 'Teardrops'
Liam delighted fans in February 2024 by releasing a new single called 'Teardrops'. This came after Liam previously teased new music on his Instagram page.
During the candid video, Liam also admitted his appearance on Logan Paul's podcast was the turning point to make him change his life.
He said: "I just needed to take a little bit of time out for myself actually because I kind of became somebody who I didn’t really recognise anymore. I’m sure you guys didn’t either."
Apologising to his former One Direction band mates for the comments he made about them, Liam added: "A lot of what I said came from the wrong place. I was so angry at what was going on around me, and instead of taking a look inwards, I decided to look outwards at everybody else. And I just think, yeah, I took it out on everybody else, which is just wrong, really.
"My own frustrations with my own career and where I kind of landed, I took shots at everybody else, which is wrong, so obviously I want to apologise for that in the first instance, because that's definitely not me."
Following his 100-day stay in Louisiana, Liam is now in a much better place, with the 'Strip That Down' singer saying: "I kinda had to go away to kinda get better. The whole thing up to that point was just a scramble to stay relevant.
"I was in bad shape up to that point and I was really happy more than anything when I arrived to kind of put a stopper on life and work.
"I’ve got more of a grip on life and everything that was getting away from me, I just feel like I’ve got more of a handle on it."
Liam revealed the 'next chapter' of his music career earlier this month, sharing tour dates for shows in Peru, Colombia, Chile, Brazil, Argentina and Mexico throughout September.
Now read:
Liam Payne publicly apologises to One Direction bandmates as he says he was 'wrong'
70 fascinating facts about Liam Payne
Bear Grey Payne: Everything we know about Liam Payne and Cheryl's son