Liam Payne's 'internal battle' with ex Cheryl over big decision for son Bear

Liam Payne, who has been sharing parenting duties of his son Bear with former partner Cheryl Cole since their split in 2018, tragically died after falling from the third floor of an Argentine hotel on Wednesday.

The ex-One Direction star was just 31 when he fell approximately 14 meters into a courtyard at the Casa Sur Palermo hotel at around 5 pm local time, suffering fatal injuries. The circumstances surrounding the fall that led to Liam's premature death remain unclear.

Leaving behind his family and his seven-year-old son Bear, whom he had with Cheryl in 2017 at the age of 23, Liam's passing is a profound loss.

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Cheryl shared the news of their son's birth on Instagram on March 25, 2017, with a touching post showing Liam holding their newborn baby, reports the Mirror US .

Her message read: "On Wednesday 22nd March Liam and I became parents to an incredibly beautiful, healthy baby boy, weighing 7lb 9 and looking like a dream. Although he still doesn't have a name he is already stealing hearts."

She continued: "We are all madly in love and overwhelmingly happy with our little arrival. Happy Mother's Day to all the mothers around the world. A day that now has a different meaning to me forever."

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Before deciding on the name Bear for their child, the couple was torn between traditional and contemporary options. In a chat with Total Access in 2017, Liam confirmed the origin of his son's name. He said: "It was like an internal battle. I wanted a more traditional name and she wanted a name that was more unusual. And the reason she chose Bear in the end was because Bear is a name that when you leave a room, you won't forget. And I like that. When I look at him, he's just Bear."

At first, Liam wasn't sold on the name, admitting: "At first, I wasn't really having it. I was like, 'I'm not really sure. I don't really understand'. Now, I look at him, and he's Bear. You become your name as you get older anyway."

Liam later confirmed during a chat with James Corden that one of the healthcare professionals at Bear's entrance into the world dubbed him 'Bear', prompted by his roaring cries, and hence the name caught on. Considering their celebrity status, Liam and Cheryl opted to keep pictures of their son away from the public gaze.

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In 2020, however, Liam admitted that his son, then aged three, looked like him. "He looks exactly like me, which is very strange," he said. "When family members see baby pictures of me now, they say, 'Oh wow, Bear looks really great there!."

In 2018, the year following the arrival of Bear, the duo revealed their decision to split after more than two years together yet promised to co-parent harmoniously. They expressed their feelings with an emotive announcement: "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 this together."

By 2022, the father spoke candidly about cherishing every moment with his son Bear, sharing: "I see him two times a week, three times a week sometimes. And I make sure when I see him, he has 100 percent of my time. I make sure that I'm not on my phone or d---ing around somewhere else. 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 happy he looks at me like a superhero, and I'm hoping to keep it that way."

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