Liam Payne and Cheryl relationship timeline and what One Direction star 'wanted to prove' to her before death

They met on the X Factor, first crossing paths in 2008. But the relationship between then teenager Liam Payne and former judge Cheryl didn't blossom until much later.

One Direction star Payne, who shot to fame when he re-auditioned for the UK singing competition in 2010 after being rejected two years earlier, tragically died aged 31 on Wednesday (October 16).

Police in Argentina said the star fell from the third floor into the courtyard of the Casa Sur Hotel in the Palermo neighbourhood where he was staying.

READ MORE Liam Payne hoped for fresh start with son Bear alongside Cheryl before his tragic death

Before his death, it is reported that Payne had reunited with ex-girlfriend Cheryl to co-parent their beloved son Bear - with sources saying he 'wanted to prove to Cheryl that he's getting his life together'. The pair had one son together before splitting up in 2018.

Liam had first met Cheryl when he was just 14, auditioning for The X Factor, but it was not until 2016 - some eight years later - that their romance became public.

In 2008, Payne auditioned to be on UK TV singing competition the X Factor for the first time at age 14. Cheryl was one of the judges alongside Simon Cowell, Dannii Minogue and Louis Walsh.

Cheryl was seen grinning as the then teenager sang Frank Sinatra's Fly Me To The Moon, as she told him he was 'really cute' and that he 'had charisma'. He made it through to the Judge's Houses stage before being sent home by mogul Simon Cowell.

Two years after his first rejection, Payne returned to the show where Cheryl was still a judge. After belting out Cry Me A River, admitting he was 'ready to give it another shot', Cheryl commented: "You've definitely got it, whatever it is you've got it. And I thought