Liam Payne's ex Danielle Peazer shares heartbreaking statement after singer's death

Danielle Peazer has shared a statement on her Instagram Stories following the death of her ex-boyfriend Liam Payne, who she dated for two years after meeting on X Factor

Danielle Peazer, the ex-girlfriend of Liam Payne, has spoken out for the first time since the tragic news of the former One Direction star's death in Argentina. In a heartfelt message on her Instagram Stories, the 36-year-old influencer, who met Liam during her time as a backing dancer on X Factor, expressed her need to grieve privately.

Danielle, who was in a relationship with Liam from 2010 to 2012, asked her followers to look after themselves and said she would "share more" about her emotions when she feels "mentally strong enough to face the reality of what's happened."

The pair briefly rekindled their romance in 2022, a decade after their split, and were seen together at the Nobu Hotel in Shoreditch, London. They were also spotted at celebrity favourites Chiltern Firehouse and Annabel's.

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Despite this, their reunion was short-lived, and Danielle moved on with Sonny Jay, the former Capital FM DJ and winner of Dancing On Ice in 2021. In May, Sonny, 31, and Danielle, 36, celebrated the birth of their daughter.

On Saturday (October 19), Danielle took to Instagram to share her grief over Liam's passing, thanking those who have offered condolences and support, saying: "Over the last few days I've been trying to process the news of Liam's death. Thank you to anyone who has taken the time to call, text, or DM sending condolences and offering support. I'm so grateful and it's helped more than you know," reports the Mirror.

"In time I will share more, but right now I don't feel mentally strong enough to face the reality of what's happened. Like all of us, I too am grieving, and need to take some time to do that privately. It's a heartbreaking time, which has already been made so much more challenging due to receiving negative and misinformed comments as well as pre-conceived judgement from those who don't personally know me, Liam or anything about our relationship over the last 14 years."

She concluded: "I will be back soon when I'm ready, but until then please take care of yourselves and each other."

Danielle's statement followed a moving tribute from Liam's sister Ruth Gibbins to the late singer. In her tribute, Ruth expressed her admiration for her brother's talent and said all he wanted was to be loved for his music, but the world was "not always kind" to him.

As their father arrived in Argentina to arrange for Liam's body to be returned home, Ruth, 33, shared her heartfelt tribute to her brother on Instagram. Ms Gibbins wrote: "My brain is struggling to catch up with what's happening and I don't understand where you've gone. What I love most about you is your ability to make me laugh, I never chuckle as much as I do when I'm with you with anyone else. I'm always in awe of your talent, it should be illegal to be so talented and just have the ability to not only be good at things but be bloody great at everything you attempt, without even knowing you're absolutely smashing it each time."

She added: "I don't feel this world was good enough or kind enough to you and quite often over the last few years, you've had to really try hard to overcome all that was being aimed at you. You just wanted to be loved and to make people happy with your music. You never believed you were good enough, I hope you can now see this outpouring of love that you never received in your time."

Ruth concluded her heartfelt tribute by saying: "I'm sorry I couldn't save you. One last time I need you to know, I'm here if you need anything, I'd drive to the end of the universe to bring you back."

She also mentioned that her family would look after Bear, Liam's seven-year-old son with his former partner Cheryl Tweedy.