One Direction Star’s Dating Life Explored, from Kate Cassidy to Maya Henry

The former One Direction star Liam Payne tragically passed away at 31 after falling off the balcony of his hotel room in Buenos Aires. Reports suggested that Argentine police found him dead after they reached the premises upon a disturbance call. While the events leading up to his fall are still unclear, the hotel staff’s call mentioned an “aggressive man” under the “effects of drugs and alcohol.”

Payne was not just known for his music career with the boy band but also for his high-profile relationships. Here’s everything to know about his ex-girlfriends, his child with The X Factor judge Cheryl, and his current girlfriend Kate Cassidy.

Danielle Peazer (2011-2013)

Liam Payne met professional dancer and model Danielle Claire Peazer on the sets of The X Factor. Payne was a contestant and Peazer was a background dancer on the show. They confirmed their dating news in April 2011 and received some backlash for the five-year age gap between the two.

However, the relationship happened at a time when One Direction grew in popularity and Peazer began accompanying the group everywhere. Peazer and Payne attended the V Festival with bandmate Louis Tomlinson and his girlfriend Eleanor Calder. In September 2012, rumors began to spread about their breakup which was later confirmed by Payne.

However, they reunited briefly after and even got a dog together named Loki. They split permanently in May 2013. Payne’s busy career was one of the probable reasons for their split. They remained good friends even after their breakup. In 2016, Peazer stated that she was happy for Payne and Cheryl, whom he was dating at the time. She shared with Daily Mail:

In 2022, Peazer and Payne sparked rumors of a rekindled romance when they were spotted leaving the Soccer Aid Aftershow Bash in the same car (via E! News). The reunion happened two months after Payne broke up with then-fiance Maya Henry. He was also spotted with Aliana Mawla during this time, which reportedly created some drama with Henry.

Sophia Smith (2013-2015)

Sophia Smith and Liam Payne went to the same secondary school, St. Peter’s Collegiate School in Wolverhampton. However, they didn’t date until they were reintroduced at a mutual friend’s birthday party in 2013. In August 2013, Payne flew Smith to the US for his Take Me Home Tour. She also accompanied him to the premiere of One Direction’s concert film This Is Us, where they made their relationship public.

Smith also appeared alongside Payne during the band’s Where We Are Tour. She also attended Louis Tomlinson’s mother’s wedding and formed friendships with Tomlinson’s ex-girlfriend Calder and his half-sister Lottie Tomlinson. Payne confirmed that the song Illusion in 1D’s album Four was written about his relationship with Smith.

People Magazine reported their split in October 2015. According to Hollywood Life, Smith ended the relationship because she wasn’t ready to settle down. A source shared with the outlet:

Smith graduated in 2016 and launched her fashion line SOPHIAXSMITH in 2019 in collaboration with Our Social Collective. She has been in a relationship with James Bridgwood since 2021 and they had a daughter in 2023.

Cheryl (2015-2018)

Liam Payne was just 14 when he first saw Cheryl, who was then a judge on The X Factor. During his audition in 2008, Payne even managed to wink at Cheryl, which she addressed during her comments, “I think you’re really cute, you have charisma and you gave me a cheeky wink” (via Hollywood Life). However, Payne was sent back by Simon Cowell, who asked him to return in two years.

When Cheryl met Payne again years later, he and his boy band One Direction were making waves in the industry. 1D performed at The X Factor final in 2015, where the two met. Cheryl was then married to her second husband Jean-Bernard Fernandez-Versini. Rumors about Payne and Cheryl were already taking rounds on the internet when Cheryl announced her split.

The duo went official at the Global Gift Gala in Cannes hosted by Eva Longoria. Their 10-year age gap sparked some discussions online, but the couple seemed to be madly in love. Payne took to Instagram to call her his “favorite woman in the world” on International Women’s Day (via Digital Spy).

The couple welcomed their son Bear Grey Payne on March 25, 2017. Cheryl shared a picture of Payne holding the newborn on her social media. Payne also posted the same photo and wrote a heartwarming caption about their son (via CBS):

The Strip That Down singer’s solo career apparently affected their relationship as it kept them apart most of the time. In July 2018, Payne announced their split in an X post, where he wrote:

Cheryl and I are sad to announce that we are going our separate ways. 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.

— Liam (@LiamPayne) July 1, 2018

Liam Payne and Cheryl remained on good terms even after the breakup. He remained a solid presence in the life of his son, Bear, until his death. He loved co-parenting Bear with Cheryl and shared with Glamour that it involved no stress. He shared, “Cheryl is literally the best person to co-parent with. No stress involved. It’s very, very relaxed, and we spend a lot of time on FaceTime.”

Naomi Campbell (2019)

Liam Payne apparently had a thing for the older woman, as moved on from Cheryl Cole to Naomi Campbell, who was 23 years his senior. He had a brief fling with Britain’s supermodel in 2019. They first drew fan attention when they liked and commented on each other’s Instagram posts.

According to Standard UK, Payne called her “perfection in a person”, while she said that Payne had a “beautiful soul.” The pair were spotted together at London’s O2 Arena and later seen trekking around Namibia. According to a later report, Campbell ended things as both of them were “living different lives.”

Maya Henry (2019-2022)

Maya Henry was perhaps his most talked about ex-girlfriend in recent times due to several allegations she raised against the singer. Henry and Payne were first seen together in August 2018 but went public with their relationship only in 2019. According to People Magazine, they were engaged in 2020. However, they announced their split in 2021.

They were back together in October 2021, but it didn’t last long and things ended for good in 2022. In a recent TikTok video, Henry revealed that it was Zayn Malik who threw him up a wall, something Payne revealed in an interview without mentioning Malik’s name. She received a lot of flak for spilling the tea, which prompted her to come out against Payne.

In a nine-minute TikTok video, she detailed some of the problematic behavior of Payne. She shared that the former One Direction star continuously reached out to her even after their breakup. She shared that he would change phones and use different iCloud accounts to contact her obsessively. She also added that he tried calling her friends and family.

She also alleged that he appeared at his former bandmates’ concerts for his own benefit and accused him of manipulating his fans. Before Payne’s death, Henry took legal action and issued a cease and desist following “the emergence of new and concerning information” (via The Express Tribune).

Henry also opened up about Payne talking about “dying” with her in an interview with The Internet Is Dead podcast. A source told The Daily Mail that Henry found out about Payne’s death only when a reporter contacted a member of her team. The source added, “Right now she is obviously in shock.”

Aliana Mawla (2022)

Aliana Mawla was another brief fling that Liam Payne had during his split from Maya Henry. He met the model during the shooting of his music video for Familiar. According to Hollywood Life, he was seen arm-in-arm with Mawla at Heathrow Airport, something which caused a bit of a drama.

Fans widely shared the pics online, assuming it was Henry. Henry responded to the fan comments, sharing (via Yahoo! NZ):

The relationship eventually fizzled out. Mawla shared a tribute to the star after his shocking death on her Instagram story. She shared, “i’m sorrythis happened to you .. will forever love & miss you” (via The Sun).

Kate Cassidy (2022-2024)

Liam Payne’s last girlfriend Kate Cassidy is an Instagram influencer with more than 250,000 followers on Instagram and 300,000 on TikTok as of writing. She began dating Payne in 2022, with an image of them in their Halloween costumes appearing online. She appeared as Baywatch star Pamela Anderson and he appeared as Anderson’s ex-husband Tommy Lee (via r/Fauxmoi).

They made their red carpet debut at the British Fashion Awards in London. She also accompanied him to the premiere of his former bandmate Louis Tomlinson’s documentary All of Those Voices. According to Us Weekly, they briefly split around May 2023 but were back together soon.

Payne and Cassidy made various trips across the world and the Buenos Aires trip was their latest one together. According to The Independent, Cassidy was with Payne for two weeks before she decided to fly back to Florida. She shared in a TikTok vlog posted two days before Payne’s death that she was ready to leave the country after their five-day trip turned into a two-week-long vacation. She shared:

However, the decision to leave Payne alone in Buenos Aires turned out to be tragic after the singer fell to his death from his hotel balcony (via Reuters). A few days before his death, Payne attended the concert of his former bandmate Niall Horan in Buenos Aires.