Who Is Liam Payne's Ex-Fiancée Maya Henry? All About Her On-Again, Off-Again Relationship with the Late Singer

The late Liam Payne was in an on-and-off relationship with Maya Henry from 2019 to 2022.

The former One Direction member and the Texas model were first seen together in August 2018, but didn’t go Instagram official until September 2019. Payne and Henry got engaged the following year, though he announced their first divorce in June 2021. By October, they were back together before finally breaking up for good in 2022.

After their relationship ended, Henry, 23, spoke openly about the time she spent with the singer, noting that the eight-year age difference affected their dynamic.

Liam Payne’s life in photos

“I definitely decided to forgive a lot of things. When you love someone so much, you have those rose-colored glasses. You’re in denial, so you think these things are going to stop, and they don’t, and it just becomes a problem among other problems,” she told PEOPLE in May 2024.

Just a week before Payne’s death, Henry issued the former One Direction singer with a cease and desist order after she claimed he had repeatedly contacted her, according to Daily Mail.

She also shared some details of her alleged experience with her ex – who she doesn’t name but links to “One Direction fans” – on TikTok. “Since we broke up, he’s been texting me, blowing up my phone…always from different phone numbers,” Henry said. “He will create new iCloud accounts to send me messages.”

A source familiar with the situation says Payne has been “extremely overwhelmed by all the legal issues” involving Henry.

Here’s everything you need to know about Liam Payne’s ex-fiancée Maya Henry and her former relationship with the late pop star.

She is a model, influencer and author

Maya Henry at the UK premiere of “Lightyear” at Cineworld Leicester Square on June 13, 2022 in London, England.

Karwai Tang/WireImage

Henry grew up in Texas with her parents, attorney Thomas J. Henry and Azteca Henry. She is an influencer and model who often shares her outfits and travels on Instagram.

In May 2024, she published her first book, Looking aheadand is now studying writing at New York University.

Payne and Henry got engaged in 2020

Liam Payne and Maya Henry. Samir Hussein/WireImage

Payne and Henry were first linked in August 2018, following his split from ex-girlfriend Cheryl in July. However, the couple only confirmed their new romance in September 2019.

In August 2020, Payne and Henry stepped out in London with the influencer wearing a large diamond ring on her ring finger.

Shortly after, Payne’s rep confirmed to PEOPLE that the couple had become engaged.

“We’re really happy,” Payne said during an appearance on Good morning America later engagement. “I had my birthday last week, my son started school for the first time today, so it feels like I’m actually having a lot of first days, which is great!”

All about Liam Payne’s bear son

They interrupted twice, in June 2021 and spring 2022

Liam Payne and Maya Henry. Photo by Stuart C. Wilson/Getty Images for The Business of Fashion

In June 2021, Payne appeared on The Director’s diary podcast and announced his split from Henry.

“I feel like more than anything at this point I’m more disappointed in myself that I keep hurting people. It annoys me. I’ve just not been good at relationships,” he said. “And I know my pattern of things with relationships, I feel at the moment. I’m just not very good at them so I just have to work on myself before I commit to someone else. And I feel like that’s where I got to in my last relationship.”

Who is Liam Payne’s girlfriend? All about Kate Cassidy and her relationship with the late One Direction member

Despite this brief split, the couple stepped out together again in March 2022 and confirmed that they were back together. “She’s still my fiancee,” Payne said. “We’re still here together and we’re very, very happy right now. Probably the happiest we’ve ever been. I think we’ve been through a lot in COVID. I feel like we’ve come out the other side a little bit stronger.”

Just a few months later, in May 2022, Payne and Henry parted ways for good. Neither member of the former couple has spoken out about the split, but Henry commented on a photo of her ex with another woman, writing: “Please stop sending me these pictures of my fiance wrapped around another woman. This is not me and it’s hard enough to know this happened without having seen it.”

She wrote a book of fiction about the pop star “inspired by true events”

Liam Payne and Maya Henry at the world premiere of ‘Ron’s Gone Wrong’ during the 65th BFI London Film Festival at The Royal Festival Hall on October 9, 2021 in London, England.

Mike Marsland/WireImage

After her relationship with Payne ended, Henry wrote a novel titled Looking aheadwhich the model said was inspired by personal diaries written during the COVID-19 pandemic while she was still engaged to the singer.

In the book, an aspiring model named Mallory falls in love with a former boy band member, Oliver. The work describes their whirlwind romance and the protagonist’s eventual heartbreak when Oliver becomes frustrated with his failing career. It also touches on topics such as abortion, abuse, violence, self-harm, substance abuse and eating disorders.

Although the novel is fiction, Henry told PEOPLE that it was “definitely inspired by true events… [The main character] Mallory is very similar to me, so it was very easy for me to write her character and bring emotion to it. I’m just grateful to have this opportunity and platform to really help be a voice for women.”

She said her relationship with Payne was “no fairy tale”

Maya Henry attends the 2020 amfAR New York Gala on February 5, 2020 in New York City.

Theo Wargo/Getty

While Henry did not reveal the extent to which her fictionalized novel reflected her relationship with Payne, she was candid about their relationship while promoting the book.

“Every time I would tell people a story [of how we met]they would always say, ‘Oh my God, it’s like a fairy tale, it’s like a movie,’” she said of their early romance. “I feel like I had to put it in the book and take that inspiration, because it just doesn’t seem real.”

IN Looking aheadMallory deals with multiple cases of domestic abuse, including verbal abuse and violence when Oliver chases her down the hall. The character also becomes pregnant, although Oliver tells her that he will end the relationship if she chooses to keep the child.

Mallory has a miscarriage, but suffers serious complications and ends up in the hospital to be treated for bleeding, an experience Henry has gone through in her own life.

“What I went through in real life is very similar to what Mallory went through in the book. “I definitely had some complications and had to go to the hospital by myself,” she told PEOPLE of her medical abortion.

She added: “If it were up to me, I wouldn’t have done it.” But also, if I had made a different decision, I would have lost the person I loved. There were definitely tough conversations about it. But looking back now, things happen for a reason.”

Expanding on her experience with Payne, Henry said, “I just became so desensitized to everything that was going on that 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 God, what was I doing and why was I there?’ ”

If you are experiencing domestic violence, call the National Domestic Violence Hotline at 1-800-799-7233 or go to thehotline.org. All calls are free and confidential. The hotline is available 24/7 in more than 170 languages.

Categories: Trends
Source: HIS Education