Liam Payne says he has ‘full autonomy’ over his life as Cheryl looks after son Bear

The former couple now live within minutes of each other

Cheryl and Liam met on The X Factor in 2008 (Getty)

Liam Payne has opened up about co-parenting with Cheryl, sharing how he plans to “always glue” himself to their five-year-old son Bear.

In an appearance on the Impaulsive podcast, hosted by Logan Paul, on Tuesday 31 May, Payne revealed that Cheryl has taken the reins on parenting Bear.

“She gives me full autonomy of my own life to be able to go and do what I do, and at the same time I know [Bear] is being taken care of because he is all she cares about,” he said.

Payne said he regularly surprises his son and takes him to school once or twice a week.

“I love to take my son to school, it’s so much fun and I know he loves it too,” he told Paul.

“The other day he was asleep, and his mum said to him ‘morning sunshine’. And then my deep voice came in saying ‘morning’ and he went ‘huh!’,” Payne recalled.

“And he went ‘wow daddy, that was the biggest surprise of my life, you being here today’. That’s the best s***t, taking care of him and watching him grow.”

While Payne previously split his time between the UK and the US, he has now returned to the UK and lives just three minutes away from Cheryl and Bear.

“I always glue myself to where he is, I owe it to him. My life is now his, my money is his,” Payne said.

The former One Direction star disclosed that he is “in constant conversation” with himself about Bear’s future and has set up several companies which he will offer to his son.

“He can run them one day if he wants to, or if he wants, he can sell them. That’s his choice.”

Payne, 28, and Cheryl, 38, started dating in 2016 after first meeting on The X Factor in 2008, when Payne was a contestant and Cheryl a judge on the show.

The couple welcomed their son, Bear, in November 2016. They announced their separation in May 2018. Sharing the same statement to both of their Twitter accounts, the pair said they “still have so much love for each other as a family”.