The couple purposely didn't announce their relationship until September 2019 — despite the fact that they had started dating months earlier, according to The Mirror. In fact, Liam wanted to make sure Cheryl — his ex and the mother of his son, Bear — was comfortable with it. "He is close to Cheryl and, out of respect to her, only wanted to go public with a girlfriend when he knew it was right," a source told the site.