Liam Payne has revealed his relationship with fellow pop star Cheryl came to an end months earlier than previously thought.
The couple had been dogged by split rumours when they put on a united front together on the red carpet of the Brit Awards in February last year.
Five months later they announced they were separated, however former One Direction star Payne has now revealed the break-up occurred around the turn of the year.
Speaking on Jessie Ware’s Table Manners podcast, he said it happened near the release of his steamy single with Rita Ora, For You, which came out in January 2018.
“We broke up around For You, actually, which is quite interesting,” he said.
Payne and Ora delivered a risque performance of the song at the Brits while Cheryl watched on.
Payne, 26, and Cheryl, 36, first got together in 2016 and share a two-year-old son, Bear.
The singer said their relationship came under strain by being unable to leave the house without both being constantly recognised.
He said: “I think we kind of rubbed off on each other a little bit in that way. In a bad way, actually. All of that stuff puts so much pressure on a relationship.
“For her, if you were going out somewhere, it would take so long to get out of the door because you’re just so worried.”
Payne also opened up on the pressures of fame, having become one of the world’s most successful pop stars during his six-year stint in One Direction.
He said he went through a “real episode” and told himself “you’re either going to end up crazy child star who dies at whatever age or you’re going to live life and get on with it properly”.
Payne, who has embarked on a successful solo career, said: “I felt like I was in a bit of a self-destruct mode because I knew it was going really well. The worst part of it is, and one thing I’d say to people getting into doing this sort of stuff, is that the success is the bit that will kill you, more than anything.
“When it’s not successful you just kind of work harder at it, depending on the person you are.
“But most of the time, the successful bit just scared the shit out of me and I wanted nothing to do with it.
“There’s no stop button, you’ve got no control over your life. And I lost complete control of everything and the last two years have been trying to take control of life back and understanding that it’s on me, if that makes sense.”