Liam Payne’s ex partner announces engagement two months after his death

Liam Payne’s ex-girlfriend Sophia Smith has announced she’s engaged two months after his death.

The pair went to school together in Wolverhampton, going on to date for two years between 2013 and 2015.

Soon after their break-up Payne began dating Cheryl Cole, with Sophia later sharing her first Instagram post with her current partner James Bridgwood in 2022.

That December she announced her pregnancy, with their daughter Angelina born in April last year.

Sophia, an influencer and fashion designer, has now revealed her engagement.

Sharing a black and white video on social media, she captioned the post: ‘Yes a million times over ❤️💍 25.12.24.’

The clip showed Sophia and James sitting in an empty room with a bottle of champagne, some glasses and rose petals scattered on the carpet.

She looked shocked while James was kneeling down with a box in his hand, with their daughter then walking into the shot.

The couple then hugged before embracing Angelina too.

They were met with supportive comments from friends and fans, including Lottie Tomlinson, Lou Teasdale and Maura Higgins who all offered their congratulations.

When they dated, Payne spoke about how he initially asked Sophia’s sister for her number.

‘She was very shy and didn’t give much indication that she liked me, so I just assumed that she wasn’t interested, as well as thinking she was way too hot for me anyway…when I was single again, I met her at my mate’s party. I didn’t say too much to her because I was too scared to after messing things up, but we finally got talking and the rest is history. It really is one of those childhood sweetheart stories. I love her eyes. The first time our eyes met I fell in love,’ he said.

However soon after their break-up he admitted while they had ‘talked about marriage’ he wanted her to chase her goals and avoid becoming ‘one of those stay-at-home girlfriends who doesn’t really do much’.

Payne died aged 31 in October after falling from a hotel balcony in Buenos Aires, Argentina.

Sophia is yet to publicly comment on his death, which is currently under investigation.

Before his death Payne was dating Kate Cassidy, 25, who later shared a note from him revealing they’d been planning to get married ‘within a year’.

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