Liam Payne has revealed that Simon Cowell played cupid by helping to set him up with his girlfriend Cheryl.
The music mogul, who helped One Direction become global superstars, was working with Cheryl on โThe X Factorโ at the time and, alongside Liamโs 1D bandmate Niall Horan, went about pulling strings.
In an interview with Radio 1Xtra, Liam explained: โIt just came about one day. [One Direction band mate] Niall came up to me and said, โYouโll never guess whoโs got a crush on you?โ
โAnd I was like, โwho?โ Heโs like, โCherylโ. Niall hooked it up. Simon kind of half hooked it up.
โI was saying something about Cheryl one night in Simonโs house, and he was like, โI think I know who is going to be the future Mrs Payneโ, and I was like โWho are you on about?โโ the star continued.
โHe was like, โIโm not telling you, youโll have to wait and seeโ.
โThey played cupid. If you ever need anything hooking up, those are your boys.
Liam and Cheryl welcomed their first child, a son named Bear, into the world in March, but heโs said the couple have no plans to walk down the aisle just yet, despite referring to Cheryl as his โwifeโ in a recent interview.
He told Radio 1โs Nick Grimshaw: โI see marriage as more of a religious thing and Iโm not really a religious person, so I know itโs not really on the cards for me at the moment.โ
Earlier this week, the 23-year-old admitted Cheryl tried to end their relationship in a phone call, but he persuaded her to stick it out.
Speaking to The Sunโs Bizarre Life podcast, Liam says the call inspired a song on his forthcoming solo album.