While Liam had been in Argentina with his current girlfriend, Kate Cassidy, until she jetted off to the US two days before his death, the singer had landed in hot water with his ex-fiancée, model Maya Henry.
The couple were engaged for two years before their split in May 2022, and earlier this month, she revealed that Liam had been frequently contacting her and her family members, prompting her to send a cease and desist letter last week.
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Hours ago, the Texan native's representative told the Daily Mail, "Right now she is obviously in shock", after learning of Liam's death.
As One Direction fans come to terms with his death, join HELLO! as we explore the complex relationship between the former lovebirds.
The pair went public with their romance in September 2019
Whilst their hard launch happened in September 2019, the couple were first linked in August 2018 when Maya was 18, and Liam was 26, just a month after his split with ex Cheryl Cole.
The lovebirds confirmed they were engaged in 2020, with Liam confirming they were "just really happy" on Good Morning America. "The last week I've had a birthday, my son has gone to school for the first time today, so it feels like a lot of firsts for me actually, which is great!" he told the hosts.
They broke up in June 2021 before reuniting shortly after
Despite their loved-up appearances, their relationship was rocky for a long time. The couple split in June 2021, confirmed by Liam when he spoke on The Diary of a CEOpodcast. "I feel like more than anything at this point, I'm more disappointed in myself that I keep on hurting people. That annoys me. I've just not been very good at relationships," he said in the interview.
"And I know what my pattern of things is with relationships, I feel at this point. I'm just not very good at them, so I just need to work on myself before I put myself on somebody else. And I feel like that's where I got to in my last relationship."
Liam and Maya got back together shortly after, until splitting for good in May 2022, after cheating accusations swirled. Maya confirmed the breakup when she commented on a photo of Liam with a mystery woman.
She wrote, "Please stop sending me these pictures of my fiancé wrapped around another woman. This is not me and it's hard enough knowing this has happened without seeing it. Enough now."
Maya wrote a book loosely based on their turbulent love story
Maya said she was "desensitized" to the red flags in their relationship
The 23-year-old released a book titled Looking Forward this year, which she revealed was loosely based on true events. "Some of the things that fictionalized the book were, obviously, the name changes, some of the cities are different," she said on the Internet Is Deadpodcast in October. "Some of the timelines are a bit skewed."
In an interview with Peoplein May this year, she revealed that their relationship was not as perfect as it seemed on the outside. "Every time I would tell people the story [of how we met], they would always say, 'Oh my God, it's like a fairytale, it's like a movie.'"
"I feel like I had to put that in the book and take that inspiration because it just doesn't seem real."
The book deals with heavy topics like substance abuse and abortion, leading fans to draw parallels to Liam and Maya's real-life romance. Ultimately, she was "desensitized" to all the red flags in their relationship, she told People.
"I was like, 'OK, this is my relationship, and this is how it's going to be.' And I feel like once you get out of [it], you're really like, 'Oh my gosh, what was I doing, and why was I there?'"
"I definitely chose to forgive a lot of things," she continued. "When you love someone so much, you have those rose-colored glasses. You're in denial, so you think those things will stop, and they don't, and that just becomes an issue among other issues."
Maya sent a cease and desist to Liam just days ago
In October, Maya posted a TikTok video claiming that Liam was harassing her and her family members as he tried to contact her non-stop despite being broken up for years. She said the singer had "weaponized" his fan base to send her hate.
"Ever since we broke up, he messages me, will blow up my phone, not only from his phone number, it's always from different phone numbers too, so I never know where it's gonna come from," she explained in the video.
"He'll create new iCloud accounts to iMessage me- it's always a damn new iCloud account. Every time I see one pop up on my phone, I'm like, 'Here we [expletive] go again.'"
She continued: "Also, [he] will email me…not only me, but he'll blow up my mom's phone. Is that normal behavior to you?"
Maya sent a cease and desist letter to her ex-fiancée last week, as her legal team told Daily Mail. "Maya Henry issued a cease and desist last week to Liam Payne following the emergence of new and concerning information," her statement read.
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