Cheryl and Liam Payne announce split after two-and-a-half year relationship

'We still have so much love for each other as a family'

Cheryl and Liam Payne have announced they are splitting up after a two-and-a-half-year relationship during which their son, Bear, was born.

The singers said they were "going our separate ways" in nearly identical posts to their combined 40 million Twitter followers on Sunday evening.

The former Girls Aloud star, who turned 35 on Saturday, and One Direction member, 24, said separating had been "a tough decision for us to make".

"We still have so much love for each other as a family,” the statement read. “Bear is our world and we ask that you respect his privacy as we navigate our way through this together."

The pair first met on The X Factor in 2008, when she was a judge and he auditioned as a solo contestant at the age of 14.

They became a couple in 2016 and welcomed their son in March last year.

Recent months have seen continuous speculation about the health of their relationship online and in some sections of the media.

In February, they put on a public display of unity and affection at the Brit Awards.

Cheryl later hit back at reports that their appearance had been a "stunt", saying the suggestion was "just ludicrous and a bit weird".

On Mother's Day, Payne paid tribute to his partner, tweeting: "Thanks for making the first year of my sons life incredible I've never seen love like this before".

Later in March, Cheryl responded to the publication of images of him with another woman, saying she was an "innocent dancer colleague of Liam's who has a fiance".

She described speculation over the pictures as a "desperate attempt to try to cause problems between Liam and I".

According to The Sun, the couple amicably agreed to separate two weeks ago.

On Friday, Cheryl celebrated her birthday with former Girls Aloud bandmates Nicola Roberts and Kimberly Walsh but Payne did not attend.

Known as Cheryl Cole during her marriage to former England full-back Ashley Cole, and Cheryl Fernandez-Versini during her subsequent marriage to Jean Bernard Fernandez-Versini, Cheryl is now generally known by her first name alone.

Press Association contributed to this report