Bear Grey Payne facts: Liam Payne's son's age, name meaning and who he looks like revealed

17 October 2024, 14:59

When was Bear Payne born? Does he know his parents are famous? Here's everything you need to know about Liam and Cheryl's son together.

Bear Grey Payne is the only son of mum Cheryl and the late Liam Payne who sadly passed away in October 2024 following an accident in Argentina.

Despite having two very high profile parents, Bear has remained out of the spotlight with the Girls Aloud singer and One Direction star taking his privacy incredibly seriously.

However, despite his lack of public profile, we have received cute and adorable updates of young Bear and his life when either Cheryl of Liam have been keen to share them with us.

Here's everything you need to know about Bear Payne including when he was born, what his name means, who he looks like and why he isn't in the spotlight.

How old is Bear Payne and where is he from?

Bear Payne was born on March 22nd 2017 meaning he celebrated his 7th birthday in 2024. Cheryl and Liam welcomed their son together in London's Chelsea and Westminster hospital.

When he arrived, Liam wrote on Instagram: "My close friends and family know there are very few times when I'm left speechless... wow!

"I'm incredibly happy to welcome our new baby boy into the world, it's a moment that I will never forget for the rest of my life and my favourite memory I have so far.

"I'm completely in awe of his incredible mother and how she has been the whole way through this, she's really made my dreams come true. We haven't named him yet but he's already capturing hearts including mine. I feel very blessed."

• READ MORE: Liam Payne and son Bear's relationship including first moments to last picture
• READ MORE: Liam Payne tributes pour in from Dermot O'Leary, Olly Murs and more following his shock death aged 31

Why was he called Bear Grey Payne?

A few weeks after his birth, Liam and Cheryl confirmed he was called Bear Grey Payne and they were only too happy to explain where they got the idea from.

Liam said: "When he was born, I think one of the midwives said it, he actually has this thing where if they don't have a good cry, they get fluid on their lungs which is quite serious.

"So he was going 'grrr', growling away when he was sleeping, so I had specialists running in and out of the hospital while my missus was asleep and he was being checked over.

"In the end, one guy was like, 'Dude I'm not being funny, there's nothing wrong with him, just likes to make a lot of noise'. And that's carried on ever since, so he just became Bear."

Cheryl echoed the story and said: "When I was in the hospital, he used to make these noises. We had specialists coming in to see what was going on, he was breathing like – quite cute but nothing worrisome.

"It was just him. The midwife used to come in and say: ‘How’s the little bear?’ I didn’t have the name prior… I couldn’t get the nickname out of my mind. We toyed with others but I didn’t want him to be the third and such and such in his class. I wanted him to have a unique name."

Who does Bear Payne look like?

Of course, while no one in the general public has seen what Bear actually looks like, his One Direction father in the past has commented on his appearance.

In 2024 he said: "He's a big boy and he looks like a mini me. As if we needed any more me in the world."

Liam also previously said Bear had "Cheryl's eyes".

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A post shared by Liam Payne (@liampayne)

Why do Cheryl and Liam keep Bear Payne out of the spotlight?

Like many showbiz couples, Cheryl and Liam had discussed allowing their son to make his own way in life.

Speaking to The Telegraph in September 2017, Liam said: "We’ve only shown him in glimpses. We don’t want him to have the pressure that me and Cheryl have, as household names. We want him to enjoy himself first and then figure it out."

After going on tour with Girls Aloud in the summer of 2024, Cheryl has admitted Bear is aware he has famous parents.

She told British Vogue: "The problem is that I want Bear to have a normal childhood. I don’t want people recognising him on the street. But he’s twigged that I’m famous. The other day he said, ‘How lucky am I to have famous parents?’ I said, ‘It doesn’t matter.’ He goes: ‘Yeah. But it’s pretty cool.’”