Liam Payne’s ex-girlfriend, Sophia Smith, announced her engagement two months after his death.
The pair went to school together in Wolverhampton, and continued to date for two years between 2013 and 2015.
Shortly after their split, Payne began dating Cheryl Cole, and Sofia later shared her first Instagram post with her current partner James Bridgewood in 2022.
In December of that year, she announced her pregnancy, and she gave birth to their daughter, Angelina, in April of last year.
Now Sofia, the influencer and fashion designer, has revealed her engagement.
Sharing a black-and-white video on social media, she captioned the post: “Yes a million times ❤️💍 25.12.24.”
The clip showed Sofia and James sitting in an empty room with a bottle of champagne, some glasses and rose petals scattered on the carpet.
She looked shocked as James was kneeling with a box in his hand, and then their daughter entered the shot.
The pair then hugged before embracing Angelina as well.
They were met with supportive comments from friends and fans, including Lottie Tomlinson, Lou Tisdale and Maura Higgins who all offered their congratulations.
When they were dating, Payne talked 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 assumed she wasn’t interested, plus I thought she was too hot for me anyway…and when I was single again, I met her” at my colleague’s party. I didn’t say much to her because I was too afraid to mess things up, but we finally talked and the rest is history. It’s truly one of those childhood sweetheart stories. I love her eyes. “The first time our eyes met I fell in love,” he said.
However, shortly after their split, he admitted that while they were “talking about marriage” he wanted her to pursue her goals and avoid becoming “one of those girlfriends who stays at home and doesn’t really do much.”
Payne died at the age of 31 in October after falling from a hotel balcony in Buenos Aires, Argentina.
Sofia has not yet commented publicly on his death, which is currently under investigation.
Before his death, Payne was dating Kate Cassidy, 25, who later shared a message from him revealing they were planning to get married “within a year”.
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