Almost four months on since One Direction singer Liam Payne tragically fell to his death in Buenos Aires, Argentina, his ex-fiancee Maya Henry has broken her silence on their relationship and how much his death has deeply affected her. Maya, 25, dated Liam on and off between 2018 and 2022, with the pair even considering marriage before famously parting ways. Yet now, in a new statement to Rolling Stone, Maya has lifted the lid on exactly how their romance played out, and what took place to make them drift apart.
"While I loved him deeply, he did things that hurt me in ways I'll never fully understand, and he continued to hurt me years after we broke up," Henry told the publication on Tuesday “On drugs, he became someone unrecognisable -- so different from his sober self.". "I kept hoping each incident would be a wake-up call for him to get help, but it never was. I tried to be there for him. I loved him so much that I convinced myself I could fix things.”.
Although the pair were deeply invested in each others happiness and enjoyed a solid romance, cracks began to form in 2022, two years after the couple had become engaged, leading Maya to stand “by him in his darkest moments,” although to little avail. "Initially, it was the drug use and addictions that tore us apart," she explained. "Anyone who has been with an addict understands how difficult that is.”.
Describing how she had “tried to be there” for Liam, Maya revealed she had mistakenly believed she could “fix things” and thought that if she held on for long enough, she could make him change. By her own admission, this often meant “ignoring every red flag” and putting herself in “unsafe” situations. Yet despite her best efforts, it wasn’t enough, and the couple decided to end their relationship but that too didn’t come without a grave toll. Left with only "emptiness" when they parted ways, Maya recalled just how difficult she found their breakup, particularly when she realised the extent of what she had been enduring.
"The love I gave, the sacrifices I made -- they weren't enough because they never could be," she added. "I wasn't just heartbroken; I felt defrauded, as so many women in my position would. But what I do know is this: It wasn't about me or anything I did. It was about struggles beyond my control. And in the end, I had to choose myself. I had to walk away, no matter how much it hurt, because staying in his world meant losing myself.”.
Liam died following a 40 foot fall from a hotel balcony in October 2024, with the singer having made no secret of his battle with alcohol and drug use in the years proceeding his death. In fact, he even sought to break the taboo surrounding the issue, when he disclosed he had attended a 100 day rehab in 2023, something which showed his clear commitment to battling his addiction. At the time of his death, following his injuries from the fall, a combination of alcohol, cocaine, and a prescribed antidepressant had all been found in his bloodstream, according to an ensuing toxicology report.
Maya is just the latest former flame of the singer to break her silence regarding her relationship with Liam, following on from Kate Cassidy’s emotional interview in the The Sun. Kate, who had dated for Liam for two years in the run up to his death, and had been vacationing with him at the time, claimed that the singer was in "such a good headspace" when she left Argentina. "We were in such a great place, just full of love; he was so happy and positive," Cassidy told the outlet. "And I just can't even believe the way things truly ended.".
