Who is Bear Payne? Everything you need to know about Liam Payne and Cheryl Cole’s rarely-seen son

Liam Payne was a proud father who was determined to keep his son Bear out of the public eye before his sudden death.

The former One Direction member, 31, is said to have fallen from the third floor of the CasaSur Palmero Hotel in Buenos Aires shortly after 5pm on Wednesday evening.

He welcomed his seven-year-old son with Cheryl Cole in March 2017 and recently gave fans a rare update on the young boy.

In August, Liam made comments about his ‘mini me’ son while celebrating his 31st birthday.

In an Instagram video uploaded at the time, the late star told his followers: “I haven’t gotten any daddy socks yet though. I’m going to talk to my son in a minute, 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 me in the world anymore.’

He also posted a rare photo to Instagram in March of his son looking at a billboard with his face on it.

“One day I want to be on a billboard, Dad,” he wrote.

In 2016, Liam started dating Cheryl following her divorce from Jean-Bernard Fernandez-Versini and their son was born the following year. However, in 2018, the couple broke up.

After a brief relationship with supermodel Naomi Campbell, the singer started dating Maya Henry in 2019 – and got engaged the following year.

In 2022, the former couple officially separated.

Just days before Liam’s death, Henry had begun taking legal action against him after accusing the One Direction star of obsessive contact and ‘weaponizing’ his fans against her.

Until his death, Payne was in a relationship with Kate Cassidy, whom he started dating in October 2022.

Both Liam and his ex, Cheryl, have mainly kept their son out of the public eye, but he has also made other comments about Bear in the past.

In 2018, Liam opened up to People about what it was like to become a young father, saying it was something he had always wanted.

“I always wanted to be a young father, but I didn’t really expect to ever be in this place,” he explained.

“I had my son at a young age, and you think it’s something magical, that one day you’ll grow up to be the person you’re supposed to be.”

‘But it took a lot to find my footing. I thought: Dad takes care of everyone, that’s what he does, so cooking was my thing.’

During an interview with People In 2022, the For You singer also sweetly showed that his son looks at him as ‘a superhero’.

‘I see him twice a week, sometimes three times a week. And I make sure that when I see him, he has 100 percent of my time. I make sure I’m not on my phone or hanging out somewhere else.”

Payne added at the time: “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 glad he looks at me as a superhero, and I hope to keep it that way.”

Liam is said to have fallen from a hotel in Buenos, Argentina around 5pm on Wednesday (ART).

Alberto Crescenti, spokesman for a city ambulance service, stated that Payne had fallen 40 meters and suffered “serious injuries incompatible with life.”

‘At 5:04 pm local time, the alarm was raised because a person was lying on the internal patio of Casa Sur. An ambulance arrived at 5.11pm and the man was pronounced dead.”

Crescenti added, “We later found out he was a famous singer. Unfortunately, the injuries he sustained as a result of the fall proved fatal. There was no way to resuscitate him.”

The Night Changes singer was spotted at his former bandmate Niall Horan’s concert in the country earlier this month.

In 2008, Liam started his music career after auditioning for The X Factor at the age of 14, in front of judges Simon Cowell, Cheryl, Louis Walsh and Dannii Minogue.

He was removed from the competition series but returned in 2010 and joined Harry Styles, Zayn Malik, Niall Horan and Louis Tomlinson to form boy band One Direction.

The group reached third place on The X Factor and became a global sensation, with hits such as What Makes You Beautiful and Live While We’re Young.

The band released five studio albums including Up All Night (2011), Midnight Memories (2013) and Made In The AM (2015) following Malik’s departure from the group.

In 2016, One Direction went on a never-ending hiatus.

Over the years, Liam has also struggled with health problems, alcoholism and suicidal thoughts.

In 2021, while we are on the Diary of a CEO podcast, he opened up about suffering from depression and substance abuse during his time with One Direction.

‘I was afraid of how far my lowest point would go. Where is the low point for me? And you would never have seen it. I’m very good at hiding it. No one would have ever seen it.’

When the host wondered if Liam’s dark thoughts included “suicidal thoughts,” the singer said, “Yes.”

‘Yes. There are some things that I have absolutely never, ever talked about. It was really, really bad. It was a problem. And it wasn’t until I saw myself afterwards that I thought, “Okay, I have to fix myself.”‘

Payne recalled seeing photos of him looking “bloated,” which he labeled as his “pills-and-booze face.”

‘My face looked about ten times the way it looks now. I just didn’t like myself that much, and then I made a change.”

Last August, Payne was hospitalized with a serious kidney infection during a trip to Lake Como in Italy.

The illness prompted him to cancel his South American tour to give him time to recover, and he shared the news on social media at the time.

“It is with a heavy heart that I have to tell you that we have no choice but to postpone my upcoming tour of South America.”

He added: ‘For the past week I have been in hospital with a serious kidney infection, something I wouldn’t wish on anyone, and as per doctor’s orders I must now rest and recover.’

“I was beyond excited to come play for you guys. To everyone who bought tickets, I am so sorry.”

After the hospital admission, his concerned friends said The sun that Payne had ‘struggled’ to cope after his years with One Direction.

“It doesn’t come as a huge surprise: his lifestyle has been on a downward spiral for a while,” a friend told the outlet.

‘Liam had such a hard time in the band because of the heavy workload and being in the spotlight.’

“Before One Direction, he was a regular guy, so living in this bubble felt foreign to him and the restrictions were really taking their toll,” the source continued.

“His partying since the band split could be a response to this.”