Who Is Maya Henry? Everything to Know About Liam Payne's Ex-Girlfriend

Maya Henry loved Liam Payne since she was 18. 

Although the model and influencer has yet to speak out regarding the One Direction singer’s tragic death at 31, her history with the former boyband member—who made up the iconic British group alongside Harry Styles, Zayn Malik, Niall Horan and Louis Tomlinson—goes back far. 

Henry, 23, and Payne first sparked romance rumors in 2018—shortly after he separated from The X Factor judge Cheryl Cole, with whom he shares 7-year-old son Bear. The couple confirmed their romance the following year, before getting engaged in 2020. Shortly after, Payne—who was 26 when he debuted his romance with Henry—gushed about their next chapter together.

“We’re just really happy,” Payne said during a 2020 appearance on Good Morning America. “The last week, I've just had a birthday, my son has gone to school for the first time today, so it seems like a lot of firsts for me really, actually, which is great.”

By June 2021, however, the duo had called it quits. While they had rekindled their relationship in early 2022, they broke off their engagement for good in May 2022.

“Maya was blindsided by the split,” an insider told E! News at the time. “He abruptly ended it with her. She is very upset. They have definitely had their fair share of ups and downs in their relationship.”

To get to know more about Henry and her relationship with the late One Direction member, keep reading… 

Who is Liam Payne's ex Maya Henry?

The influencer, 23, is the daughter to Azteca Henry and Thomas Jude Henry and sister to older brother Thomas Henry. She is currently pursuing a creative writing degree at New York University, and hopes to pursue law school upon her December 2024 graduation, she told Authority Magazine in an interview earlier this month. 

Although she was raised in Corpus Christi, Texas, she relocated to London when she turned 18 in 2018 to pursue modeling. 

What has Maya Henry said about Liam Payne’s death?

Henry has yet to speak out following the death of the former One Direction member. However, in the time since their breakup, she has often spoken about their tumultuous relationship. In May, she told People in May that upon meeting the “Strip that Down” singer, she found him “very charming and sweet and nice.”

But Henry admitted that when it came to their romance, not everything was a “fairytale.”

“I definitely chose to forgive a lot of things,” she explained. “When you love someone so much, you have those rose-colored glasses. You’re in denial, so you think those things will stop, and they don’t, and that just becomes an issue among other issues.”

What legal battles were Maya Henry and Liam Payne involved in prior to the singer’s death? 

In the days leading up to Liam’s death, Henry had allegedly asked lawyers to issue a cease and desist letter to the One Direction singer, accusing Payne of repeatedly contacting her, her friends and family. 

“Maya Henry issued a cease and desist last week to Liam Payne following the emergence of new and concerning information,” Maya’s lawyers told The Daily Mail Oct. 16. “She has retained attorneys Marco Crawford and Daniel Cerna to represent her. At this time, that is her only comment on the matter.”

Did Maya Henry write about Liam Payne in her book Looking Forward?

In May, Henry self-published her debut novel, Looking Forward following Mallory Hunt, a Tennessee native-turned-fashion model who ends up in a relationship with Oliver Smith, a member of a popular boyband 5Forward. However, Mallory quickly finds that Oliver is fighting demons behind closed doors. Alongside the release, Henry noted that the book was inspired by true events, although she didn’t specifically name Payne as inspiration for Oliver. In the months since her book release, she’s since shared insight into the backlash she received from One Direction fans.  

“A lot of the One Direction fanbase had issues with it,” Henry told recently Authority Magazine. “But there’s always backlash when you create something like this—especially when it involves someone they idolize. There’s always going to be a toxic fandom. But in the end, I feel like women need to come together and hold men accountable for their actions.”

But she has specified which aspects of Mallory’s journey she took from her own. For instance, in the book, Mallory has to undergo an abortion by herself—which Henry later explained has parallels to her own experience.  

“What I went through in real life is very similar to what Mallory went through in the book. I definitely did have some complications, and I did have to go to the hospital alone,” she told People. “It was very lonely, having these men tell you, ‘Oh, it’s going to feel like a heavy period, it’s not going to be that painful, it’s going to be easy.’ But I’m like, you’ve never even gone through anything like [this], so how would you know to tell me?” 

She added that she might not have pursued an abortion had she not felt pressured by her then-partner. 

“If it were up to me, I wouldn’t have done it,” she noted. “But then also, if I were to have made a different decision, then I would’ve lost the person that I loved. There were definitely difficult conversations about it. But looking back now, things happen for a reason.”

What did Liam Payne say about his relationship with Maya Henry?

While dating Henry, Payne spoke highly of her ability to handle the spotlight. 

“If someone is going to take a picture, someone is going to do something,” he told Kiss F.M. UK in 2019. “The difference is with her, she’s so relaxed that it helps me relax in a situation, rather than being somewhere, and talk about who is watching and what’s going on. People are going to watch whatever.”

He emphasized that Henry helped his life feel more “normal.”

“It’s just been quite nice and just going out,” Payne added to the radio station. “I’ve managed to explore a lot more of London than I ever have actually my life, which has been quite fun.”

After the pair officially called off their engagement for the first time in 2021, though, Payne shared that he needed to take time to work on himself before he committed to a serious relationship. 

“I know what my pattern of things is with relationships, I feel at this point,” he said on the Diary of a CEO podcast in 2021. “I'm just not very good at them so I just need to work on myself before I put myself on to somebody else. And I feel like that's where I got to in my last relationship.”

Keep reading for a look back at Liam’s life in photos. 

Disclaimer: The copyright of this article belongs to the original author. Reposting this article is solely for the purpose of information dissemination and does not constitute any investment advice. If there is any infringement, please contact us immediately. We will make corrections or deletions as necessary. Thank you.