Liam and Cheryl first met way back in 2010 on The X Factor, when he was just a sixteen year old contestant and she was on the judging panel. They got together in 2016 in a shock coupling that came under fire from fans and some entertainment reporters due to the large age gap between the pair - the pop songstress is 11 years older than the former One Direction bandmate. It appears that might be what finally split them apart too, with a source close to the couple telling The Sun: “Cheryl and Liam worked really hard on their relationship – they had troubles earlier this year and were able to get through them. But they’re in different stages of their lives and, after a lot of careful thought, came to a decision that it’s best for everyone if they do go their separate ways."
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"He still cares for her and she cares for him. They still have an ongoing relationship together. They have a baby together.” The source also admitted that the pair's busy schedules and successful careers were taking a toll on their relationship, Liam travelled the world doing press for his new solo career and Cheryl was stuck at home looking after Bear, their son, by herself: "Both Cheryl and Liam have successful careers that take a lot of time, which didn’t always make things easy.There were ups and downs for a long time.” The couple shared identical statements on Twitter yesterday telling their followers about their decision to split, after being marred by rumours that their relationship was on the rocks for months. They were last seen together at the Brit Awards back in February where they played down the gossiping with some excessive and odd PDAs.
We 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.
— Cheryl (@CherylOfficial) July 1, 2018
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Liam spoke out about the erratic red carpet display in March, admitting that the couple were struggling and had almost split up at several points, saying: "The funniest thing was a week before we were getting married. The next week we're splitting up. 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. This part of our relationship was never not going to happen, there was always going to be a little bit of tenseness in the way we sort ourselves out, but tell me a relationship in the world that doesn't go through a spot like that? It's about whether you make it through or not, together, is the main point there I guess." Cheryl had almost apparently turned down several proposals of marriage from Liam, which he reportedly saw as 'a snub'.
