It’s over for Cheryl Cole and Liam Payne. The couple announced via similar statements on Sunday, July 1, that they’ve called it quits after more than two years together.
“Cheryl and I are sad to announce that we are going our separate ways,” the former One Direction singer, 24, wrote in a tweet on Sunday. “It’s been a tough decision for us to make. We still have so much love for each other as a family. Bear is our world and we ask that you respect his privacy as we navigate our way through this together.”
Cole, 34, and Payne welcomed son Bear in March 2017.
The British singers started dating in 2015 after first meeting when he auditioned for The X Factor in 2008. Prior to announcing their split on Sunday, they spent the past couple of months battling breakup rumors. While addressing the reports, Payne admitted they have their ups and downs just like any other couple.
“The funniest thing was a week before we were getting married. The next week we’re splitting up,” Payne told London’s ES Magazine while talking about the reports. “And the thing for me is, I just like to think we’re somewhere in the middle. You know, we have our struggles — like, of course I’m not gonna sit here and say that everything’s absolutely fine and dandy, because of course you go through different things, and that’s what a relationship is. But we go through them together as a family and that’s the most important thing for me.”
Prior to that, Cole also shut down rumors that Payne cheated with one of his backup dancers.
“I usually don’t bother myself to respond to stupid articles. But in my silence they hold the pen,” Cole tweeted on March 30. “This is a stupid article, clutching at very small straws. But I can’t ignore this story involving an innocent dancer colleague of Liam’s who has a fiancé, and dragging them into this desperate attempt to try to cause problems between Liam and I. Nor do I understand the daily onslaught of stories.”
Cole was previously married to French restaurateur Jean-Bernard Fernandez-Versini after a whirlwind three month relationship and previously linked to dancing pro Derek Hough.