Liam Payne says he and former flame Cheryl are 'closer' than ever

Watch: Liam Payne 'closer than ever' to Cheryl and son Bear

Liam Payne has said he and his ex Cheryl are 'closer' than ever and that she is 'the best' to co-parent with.

The One Direction heartthrob, 27, welcomed son Bear with Cheryl in 2017, but the couple went their separate ways in 2018.

The pair now co-parent their son and Payne told Glamour it has been working out brilliantly through lockdown.

Read more: Liam Payne says it was tough missing son's birthday because of lockdown

“Cheryl is literally the best person to co-parent with,” said the Stack It Up singer.

“No stress involved. It's very, very relaxed, and we spend a lot of time on FaceTime. And it's been really lovely, and I'm closer to them than I've ever been before, actually, which is really, really nice."

Payne said "bedtime FaceTime can go really well sometimes".

"Or I bought him some toys yesterday that I showed them on the FaceTime and it was like I had to go and travel over and hand the toys over the fence!” he added.

Read more: Cheryl feared son Bear would be swapped at birth

Bear is Payne’s only child and the singer has previously credited his son with helping him “to become a man”.

Speaking at The Diana Awards last year, he said that the four-year-old is the person who inspires him and that becoming a dad “changed my views on a lot of different things and the way I was living my life”.

Payne and Cheryl got together in 2016 before splitting two years later.

The boy band star is now romantically linked to model Maya Henry.

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