Liam Payne, Maya Henry. Jamie McCarthy/Getty Images for Elton John AIDS Foundation
Liam Payne and ex-fiancée Maya Henry had an on and off relationship.
The One Direction alum was first linked to Henry in August 2018, shortly after he and ex-girlfriend Cheryl Cole broke up. One yr later, Payne and Henry made their relationship Instagram official.
“If someone goes to take an image, someone goes to do something. The difference is along with her, she’s so relaxed that it helps me loosen up in a situation, reasonably than being somewhere, and speak about who’s watching and what’s occurring,” Payne said on KISS FM U.K. in September 2019. “Persons are going to observe whatever. What am I purported to do? I can’t do anything about it now. It’s too late for that. It’s just been quite nice and just going out.”
He added, “I’ve managed to explore lots more of London than I ever have actually in my life, which has been quite fun. My life has been quite normal recently, which has been a break.”
Dave Benett/Getty Images; Karwai Tang/WireImage Liam Payne’s ex-fiancée, Maya Henry, has pulled from her real life to jot down her debut novel, Looking Forward. “Obviously the book is fiction, [but it’s] definitely inspired by true events.” Henry, 23, told People in an interview published on Wednesday, May 15. “[The main character] Mallory could be very just like […]
Payne proposed in August 2020, but they split the subsequent yr. Payne and Henry later reconciled but called it quits for good in May 2022 after he was accused of cheating. (Payne denied the allegations on the time.)
When Henry released a novel inspired by the tumultuous relationship in 2024, Looking Forward, some fans were convinced she pulled inspiration from Payne.
“A few of the things that fictionalized the book were, obviously the name changes, a number of the cities are different,” Henry said on the “Web Is Dead” podcast in October 2024. “A few of the timelines are a bit skewed. People were like, ‘This may’t be about Liam,’ because once I was talking concerning the abortion, he said, ‘Oh, I’m not ready for a child,’ and in real life that’s obviously not the case. For privacy reasons, I just wanted to go away stuff like that out of my book.”
Payne, who died weeks later on the age of 31, shared son Bear with ex Cole.
Keep scrolling to revisit Payne and Henry’s relationship timeline:
2018
Payne and Henry began dating after they were 26 and 18, respectively. He never publicly addressed the age gap.
August 2020
Two years later, Us Weekly confirmed that Payne proposed.
June 2021
During an appearance on the “Diary of a CEO” podcast, Payne revealed that he was single.
“I feel like greater than anything at this point, I’m more disillusioned in myself that I carry on hurting people,” he said on the time. “That annoys me. I’ve just not been excellent at relationships. I’m just not excellent at them so I just have to work on myself before I put myself on to anyone else.”
Payne added, “I feel like that’s where I got to in my last relationship. I just wasn’t giving a excellent version of me anymore, that I didn’t appreciate and I didn’t like being.”
One Direction could have hit pause on their music together, but band members Harry Styles, Niall Horan, Liam Payne, Louis Tomlinson and Zayn Malik have continued to hit play in the case of romance. Malik’s relationship with fellow English singer Perrie Edwards was a fan-favorite because the couple began dating in 2011 and got engaged […]
October 2021
The breakup was short-lived as Payne and Henry reconciled several months later, before making their red carpet debut on the BFI London Film Festival in October.
May 2022
By May 2022, they split again after rumors surfaced that Payne cheated on Henry. Payne’s rep, nevertheless, told Us that he and Henry split “over a month ago.”
That very same yr, Payne began dating Kate Cassidy.
May 2024
Henry published her debut novel on May 14, about Mallory Hunt, a fan of boy band 5Forward, who eventually becomes a fashion model. Once Mallory becomes an It Girl, she meets and starts dating former 5Forward member Oliver Smith. Within the book, Oliver forced Mallory to have an abortion after she got pregnant.
“Obviously the book is fiction, [but it’s] definitely inspired by true events,” Henry told People in an interview published on Wednesday, May 15. “[The main character] Mallory could be very just like me, and that’s why it was very easy for me to jot down her character and put the emotion in there. I’m just grateful that I even have this chance and platform to actually help be a voice for ladies.”
Payne never publicly addressed Henry’s book.
October 2024
Henry continued to detail her relationship with Payne in a series of scathing social media videos. In a single early October clip, Henry claimed that Payne used to inform her that 1D alum Zayn Malik once threw him up against a wall. (Neither singer addressed the rumor. Us reached out for comment on the time.)
On October 14, the Each day Mail reported that Henry sent a cease-and-desist letter to Payne after he allegedly repeatedly tried to contact her. Us confirmed two days later that Payne died at age 31 when he fell off a hotel balcony in Argentina.
