Singer Liam Payne has been reportedly waiting for the right time to go public with his new love interest Maya Henry - so that he doesnt upset his ex Cheryl, who is also mother of his son Bear.

A source told mirror.co.uk: "Liam and Maya have been together for several months now. He is besotted and they get on very well. But he wanted to wait before they started going public.

"He is close to Cheryl and, out of respect to her, only wanted to go public with a girlfriend when he knew it was right."

Payne reportedly dated supermodel Naomi Campbell earlier this year but they were never pictured together.

The One Direction star and Maya, daughter of lawyer Thomas J. Henry, were first linked last summer just weeks after he ended his relationship with Cheryl.