If, like us, you’re struggling to comprehend the fact that Bear Payne is about to turn seven, then you have to wonder how mum Cheryl must be feeling. Well, according to our source, it’s a mix of nostalgia and broodiness and we’re told that, with Bear’s birthday looming, the singer believes it’s now or never to have a sibling for her only son.
“Cheryl’s not yet fully given up on her dream to have another baby, but she knows it probably has to be within the next year or so,” an insider tells heat.
“With Bear’s birthday coming up, it’s really hitting home to Cheryl that he’s no longer her baby, and is now a proper little boy who is growing more independent by the day. It’s gone by in a blur, and she really misses that time when it was just her and him in their own little bubble.”
Cheryl, 40, and former One Direction singer Liam Payne, 30 – who first met when Liam auditioned for The X Factor in 2008 – welcomed Bear in March 2017, just over a year after they began dating. They split in July 2018, but have remained on friendly terms – bar the odd up and down – as they co-parent Bear. They’ve also gone to huge lengths to protect their son’s privacy, choosing not to show his face online.
Cheryl has stayed out of the spotlight herself in recent years as she navigated life as a mum, but made a comeback last year when she starred in West End play 2:22 A Ghost Story, a performance that was met with overwhelming acclaim. Soon after, it was announced she would be joining Nicola Roberts, Kimberley Walsh and Nadine Coyle for a Girls Aloud reunion tour in honour of their late bandmate Sarah Harding.
So, with the foursome set to spark Girls Aloud mania across arenas nationwide in May and June, we’re told that Cheryl is thinking long and hard about the timing for baby number two.
“She has the tour coming up and is totally focused on that, but it’s in the back of her mind that, once it’s over this summer, she needs to make up her mind. She knows Bear would love a brother or sister, as he gets on so well with his cousins and her friends’ children – especially Kimberley’s little boys – and he’s so social. He has definitely taken after both his parents.”
Cheryl is one of five children herself and she revealed in 2019 that she has always “loved babies”. She once quipped that she wanted “100 kids”, admitting, “I’m always broody, I’ve been broody since I was about 13 years old.” Cheryl has even revealed she wouldn’t solely rely on conventional methods for having children, and has considered using a sperm donor. “You don’t necessarily need to be in a relationship,” she said in an interview.
“I’ve got a friend who has had two children using donors. You can spend ages looking for the right man, waiting for the perfect time to get pregnant, then the right man might turn out to be the wrong man. There are definitely other routes I would consider.”
Cheryl was previously married to former footballer Ashley Cole and restaurateur Jean-Bernard Fernandez-Versini, but divorced them both, and our source says, “She isn’t scared about doing it by herself. Liam is a really good dad, but he has such a busy schedule, so it’s Cheryl who makes the vast majority of the big parenting decisions. She and Bear are a little dream team and she doesn’t want to ruin that, but then there’s the other part of her that would love one more baby.”
The source adds, “She would have the full support of her friends and family, who know what a great mum she is and how happy it makes her.”