One Direction’s Liam Payne Hits Back At Claims He’s ‘Taking Time Away’ From His Son Bear
According to Liam Payne, no, he is not “taking time away” from his and Cheryl Cole‘s son, Bear. The One
Lillie Gissen
According to Liam Payne, no, he is not “taking time away” from his and Cheryl Cole‘s son, Bear. The One Direction member just hit back at claims made about his relationship with the 3-year-old, and he insisted his words were “taken out of context” to try to “pain him in a certain way” for “click bait.”
“Usually I let these things slide but this is completely out of context,” the singer captioned a screenshot of an article with a headline that read, “‘It’s not unusual for me to be in and out of his life:’ Liam Payne says he and Cheryl agreed he should take some ‘time away’ from son Bear.”
He continued, “I couldn’t see my son because of the worldwide pandemic that is happening not because I had anything wrong with me like this headline hints at. This interview was done during the first nationwide lockdown at the height of the coronavirus pandemic and I was discussing not being able to see my child which is a difficult time for any parent I wish sometimes these people would do the research and give context instead of painting people a certain way for click bait.”
View this post on Instagram
During a recently released interview with Tings magazine, the “Strip That Down” crooner got real about what it was like to be away from his son amid the coronavirus pandemic. And he admitted that because of the lockdown, it had been the longest he had ever been away from the toddler.
“Cheryl and I discussed from the start [of the outbreak] and for different reasons, we decided I should be away for a little bit,” he said. “It’s not unusual for me to be in and out of his life.”
This Isn’t The First Time Liam Payne Talked About Being Apart From Bear
Back in April, the pop star opened up once again about the outbreak forcing him and his son apart, and he revealed at the time that he hadn’t seen his baby boy in “weeks.”
“Bear is really good. He is learning a lot more about FaceTime at the moment,” he said during an Instagram Live. “It is difficult not to see him. That has been the hardest part for me. I’m missing him.”
Payne also explained to People Magazine that they were keeping in touch via FaceTime.
“FaceTime with my son can go any number of ways,” he dished. “I FaceTimed him before and he was on a trampoline in a princess dress with a pair of Wellington shoes on playing the ukulele. And then other times he’s so interested in SpongeBob that his mom will be like, ‘Say hi to Daddy,’ and he’s like, ‘Hi, Daddy.’ And then he’s back in SpongeBob. It’s so funny.”
“I’d love to see him, but at the same time, I just don’t know if it’s worth the risk,” he added. “You don’t want to take the chance with that sort of thing. You have to be careful.”
Payne added that he’s trying to teach Bear his songs — but it wasn’t going that well.
“Sometimes he does get me mixed up with Ed Sheeran,” the 1D heartthrob joked. “There’s one Ed Sheeran song that he seems to think is mine.”
But despite the mishap, he revealed that Bear was a big fan of his tunes! He said that when he put on some random music for the 3-year-old, Bear said, “No, Daddy’s music!”
“I was like, ‘That’s so cool,’” Payne added. “Like, that’s the coolest thing ever.”
What Else Do We Know About Bear?
As fans know, the 26-year-old and the former Girls Aloud singer welcomed Bear together on March 22, 2017.
“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 favorite memory I have so far,” Payne shared on Instagram at the time. “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.”
View this post on Instagram
In May 2019, Payne spilled some major tea on Bear’s personality, and get this — he already has an attitude!
“He’s got such an attitude. We got a really well behaved little boy, but then sometimes he’ll sort of have a go at his mum and I’ll be like, ‘Bear, stop it.’” he told Us Weekly. “He just wouldn’t listen to me today. He just wants to silence me with his hand. He’s like, ‘Just give me a minute. I’m busy.’”
Payne also said he felt like his son was a total “mini-me.” So cute!
“My mum brought all my old toys to the house, and then Cheryl came one day to my house and she was like, ‘Oh, he’s playing with this red car all the time. It was yours,’” he gushed. “I was like, ‘Is it a Jaguar?’ And it was my favorite car when I was [little]. So he’s literally like little-me.”
And he also opened up about the little guy learning to talk!
“It’s amazing just to hear him start saying words and this is the part where really everything comes alive quite a lot,” he continued. “He’s still really just learning everything. You have to watch yourself and what you say. He can pick up everything.”
What Has Liam Payne Said About Being A Father?
In 2017, shortly after Bear was born, the musician got real about fatherhood.
“People make it out like a lightbulb comes on and suddenly you’re a dad and it’s like… no. [Being a father] is something you have to learn and I’m not afraid to say it takes more than a f**king minute to get your head around the idea of what it is,” he told Esquire Middle East. “The not understanding is the most difficult bit…especially when you have a toddler who doesn’t understand how to communicate and you can’t understand what they want.”
The musician also opened up about how his son was already copying him!
“I discover him every day and I see his eyes brighten when I talk to him. He always looks at me with great attention and he often tries to imitate me by moving his mouth,” he said. OUR HEARTS.
A few months later, Payne talked about being a dad again. He gushed, “I’m happy to be a dad, it’s an incredible thing. I give my son as much love as I have received from my parents.”
Cole also spoke out about how Payne is as a father, and she admitted that he’s not very strict.
“I’m the strict one, Liam isn’t. I’ll be the one saying, ‘just one square of chocolate,’ she told British newspaper The Telegraph in April 2019. “Liam is a great dad. He’s much softer than me. But Bear is so good. If I get cross with him he puts his little hands on my face and looks into my eyes to see if I’m deadly serious or a tiny bit cross, and it melts my heart.”
Don’t Expect To See Many Pictures Of Bear
Since he was born, both Cole and Payne have shared very little photos of Bear, and every time they have posted one, they made sure to cover his face. And in 2018, the singer explained why he wants to keep his son private.
“Rather than being pictured and being put in places, I wanna give him the chance,” he told the Evening Standard. “If I take it away from him now, he never has the chance to go back.”
Liam Panye Has Turned To Louis Tomlinson For Parenting Advice
Ready to have your hearts burst? In April 2020, Payne revealed that he and his former 1D bandmate Louis Tomlinson talk “quite a lot” about being dads. As fans know, Tomlinson and his ex-girlfriend Briana Jungwirth welcomed a son together, Freddie Reign, in January 2016.
“It ‘s great to hear another dad who is also outside the situation … Because his son is a little older than mine, I receive many lessons and different things from him,” Payne said.