First of all, I’m going to say that the way a celebrity “looks” is never a good indicator of anything. Part of the job of a celebrity is to project a certain image, so anytime you see them in public, especially at work events or times when there are pap pictures or pictures with fans taken, you have to assume they may be projecting a certain image.
I intended to answer this privately like I usually do for asks that are off anon. I hope you’re ok with me answering publicly instead. I had to save a draft because it was so long and I forgot that takes away the option to answer privately. I know it’s long, but do me the favor of reading the whole thing and looking at all the resources linked before you ask me any other questions about this topic.
Pictures
However, I’ll also point out that the assumption that Liam looks happy with Cheryl isn’t one I understand. There are many pictures of him looking downright miserable and several pictures where he definitely looks to be manufacturing a smile.
The pictures from this event were some of the happiest looking, but you can clearly see him holding a smile unnaturally, even while talking. There’s a stillness and a staleness about the way he holds the smile that shows that it’s for the cameras.
He looks like he’s crying in these pictures more than smiling.
Later in the car he still looks rather traumatized and then he pastes on the most upsetting smile and stares straight at the camera.
Liam is straight up pouting in this picture even though there aren’t paps right in front of his face. There aren’t a lot of pics from this set, but there aren’t any of him that don’t look upset either.
I have to say I’ve never seen someone naturally pout like Liam does. Usually people are exaggerating on purpose, but it just seems to be one of his natural facial expressions.
It’s the same with this set. There are no smiling pictures and Liam looks really rough and tense.
There are no pictures of Liam and Cheryl outside the car or getting into the car where he’s smiling even though she is.
This is another one where Liam looks just plain tired and lifeless.
Liam smiles with his eyes, so a good smile from him is crinkly around the eyes. He also shows distress through his eyes sometimes and this picture is another example.
Here’s another where he looks completely done while Cheryl is smiling prettily.
Here are pictures of Liam smiling when he’s happy for comparison.
If you notice, he’s always smiled with his mouth open where the top and bottom teeth are separated. This is true when laughing of course, but also when smiling. His eyes crinkle and he gets visible veins around his temple if he’s smiling or laughing even moderately. When he puts his teeth together, it’s a pretty clear sign that it’s his manufactured smile that he’s learned to use for cameras.
Not every smile that’s crinkly is a genuine one, but they’re by far more genuine than ones where he’s not crinkly or open mouthed. Yes, there are going to be pictures of Liam and Cheryl together where Liam looks genuinely happy. That’s because 1) it’s his job, and 2) life is not so melodramatic that people can’t smile and enjoy themselves for a few moments even when doing something they dislike.
Again, I don’t advocate using pictures to gauge someone’s mood or happiness because it’s very subjective and there’s some selective bias in which pictures you pay attention to, but if you make the assertion that Liam looks happy with her, I want to show you the pictures where I think he really, really doesn’t.
What’s Really Useful
What I actually use to see if a relationship is real is logic.
In order to understand some of my arguments, you have to accept that newspapers aren’t always rogue in their reporting. In fact, often they’re not and especially if they’re big publications that regularly publish celebrity news.
Rather, these publications often have standing agreements with entertainment companies about how they’ll portray the celebrity clients. This is also why many pap companies explicitly state on their websites that they take pictures at the request of their clients and will not publish pictures without client approval.
If you’re unaware of this or uncertain if you believe it, check my analysis resources tag to see examples and even exposes by publications on the same topic.
Chiam/Sham/Cherliam Reporting
One of the issues with Liam and Cheryl is that they were reported to be trying for a baby barely a month after their “relationship” was revealed while Cheryl was still married to her now ex-husband.
Married/Divorcing:
4-10-16
http://www.mirror.co.uk/3am/celebrity-news/cheryl-fernandez-versinis-husband-jean-7727045
4-17-16
https://www.thesun.co.uk/archives/news/1131439/cheryls-ex-jean-bernard-furious-over-rumours-she-cheated-with-liam-payne-while-they-were-still-together/
5-22-16
https://www.thesun.co.uk/archives/uncategorized/1210215/cheryls-hopes-for-a-clean-divorce-turn-messy-as-jean-bernard-fernandez-versini-battles-over-12m/
6-25-16
http://www.mirror.co.uk/3am/celebrity-news/cheryls-ex-jean-bernard-hires-8284256#ICID=sharebar_twitter
10-02-16
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-3817712/Cheryl-s-divorce-stalled-ex-Jean-Bernard-Fernandez-Versini-refusing-sign-no-talk-order-preventing-taking-step-beau-Liam-Payne.html?ito=social-twitter_dailymailceleb
10-20-16
https://www.thesun.co.uk/tvandshowbiz/2012945/cheryl-divorce-papers-marriage-ends/
They’ve also been reported to be moving in together a ridiculous number of times. I think the count is 4 although some people say 5. She moved into his Surrey house in March 2016, then into his LA house in April 2016, and then into his Surrey house again in January 2017, and into the Surrey house a final time in February 2017.
Moved In:
3-6-2016
http://www.dailystar.co.uk/showbiz/499116/Liam-Payne-Cheryl-Fernandez-Versini-convert-mansion-luxury-love-nest
4-9-2016
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-3530970/Cheryl-Fernandez-Versini-Liam-Payne-Los-Angeles-mansion-together.html?ito=social-twitter_dailymailceleb
1-29-2017
http://paynoisbatman.tumblr.com/post/156544670121/almost-a-year-later-and-sham-are-still-moving-in
2-26-17
http://www.dailystar.co.uk/showbiz/591618/cheryl-cole-pregnant-baby-liam-payne-moving-in
Rumors of pregnancy started within the first few weeks in the lowest level gossip mags while it was brought up at least once a month by the biggest tabloids in the UK since April.
Given that Cheryl is supposed to give birth in March (probably? maybe? they’ve never given a clear due date for her), the earliest she could have been pregnant would have been early June or late May if you’re stretching it.
The earliest she’d be showing a bump as a first time mother would be 3 months in, so that would be early September. Why, then, did she start wearing holding her hand over her stomach in early-mid May when she couldn’t have been pregnant yet? Why did she start wearing baggy clothes in early June when there was no way she had a bump yet?
Baby:
3-8-16
http://somewhereisaplacethatziamknow.tumblr.com/post/140678095671/the-tuesday-gossip-mags-seem-a-bit-confused-about
April 2016
http://mellygrant.com/post/141388202069/more-fun-with-cherliam-uk-weekly-covers
4-9-16 (2-3 months before baby would have to have been conceived)
http://www.mirror.co.uk/3am/celebrity-news/cheryl-liam-payne-move-together-7720343
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-3531390/Cheryl-Fernandez-Versini-no-rush-babies-Liam-Payne.html
4-12-16
http://lifestyle.one/closer/celebrity/news/cheryl-really-quit-x-factor/
5-10-16
http://oiiiioiiii.tumblr.com/post/144113653970/the-star-for-tomorrow-10516
http://paynoisbatman.tumblr.com/post/144153025376/that-regular-chick-just-a-few-more-headlines
https://nerds4life.tumblr.com/post/144147812982/that-regular-chick-katie-price-has
http://liamupdates.com/post/144091784447/paris-0509
5-17-16
http://somewhereisaplacethatziamknow.tumblr.com/post/144493515151/bit-of-a-running-theme-in-todays-gossip
5-22-16
http://www.peoplemagazine.co.za/celebrity-news/international-celebrities/liam-payne-ready-to-be-a-dad-with-cheryl
6-12-16
http://liamupdates.com/post/145807392347/liam-and-cheryl-cole-at-his-sisters-wedding
http://www.celebsnow.co.uk/celebrity-news/cheryl-debuts-new-pregnancy-body-357093
6-18-16
https://www.thesun.co.uk/tvandshowbiz/1305049/cheryl-trying-for-first-baby-with-one-direction-singer-liam-payne/
7-30-16
http://www.mirror.co.uk/3am/celebrity-news/simon-cowell-reveals-cheryl-fernandez-8529036
9-6-16
http://somewhereisaplacethatziamknow.tumblr.com/post/150020781726/todays-now-6916-the-above-headline-is
http://paynoisbatman.tumblr.com/post/150050214141/ok-so-based-on-his-new-twitter-bio-i-want-everyone
9-13-16
http://paynoisbatman.tumblr.com/post/150367558986/fans-are-questioning-if-cheryl-is-pregnant-after
9-23-16
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-3804040/Cheryl-gets-work-mystery-project-s-photographed-time-pregnancy-rumours.html
10-2-16
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-3818485/Cheryl-covers-tummy-oversized-coat-steps-amid-claims-s-expecting-child-Liam-Payne.html
10-3-16
http://www.mirror.co.uk/3am/celebrity-news/cheryl-sparks-more-pregnancy-rumours-8967992?ICID=FB_mirror_main
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-3820304/Cheryl-covers-tummy-returns-London-revealing-new-curves-L-Oreal-Paris-party-PFW-amid-pregnancy-claims.html
http://paynoisbatman.tumblr.com/post/151309029241/lifechangeing-just-wonderful-after
10-10-16
https://www.thesun.co.uk/tvandshowbiz/1946666/miserable-cheryl-hides-her-figure-in-a-baggy-camel-shroud-as-she-enjoys-a-date-night-with-rumoured-baby-daddy-liam-payne/
10-27-16
https://www.thesun.co.uk/tvandshowbiz/2062196/pregnant-cheryl-hides-stomach-in-tailored-trouser-suit-at-secret-perfume-signing-for-fans-in-london/
10-28-16
https://www.thesun.co.uk/tvandshowbiz/2071874/are-these-the-pictures-that-prove-cheryl-expecting-first-child-with-liam-payne/
11-2-16
http://somewhereisaplacethatziamknow.tumblr.com/post/152652229881/deliberate-choice-of-waistcoat-with-the
11-20-16 (refusing to confirm despite obviously teasing)
https://www.thesun.co.uk/living/2206428/cheryl-reveals-she-is-happier-than-ever-after-learning-to-be-less-apologetic/
11-26-16
https://www.thesun.co.uk/tvandshowbiz/2266051/pregnant-cheryl-crosses-her-arms-over-her-front-in-previously-unseen-photo-from-filming-of-who-do-you-think-you-are/
11-29-16
http://liamupdates.com/post/153828306522/liam-and-cheryl-at-cheryls-charity-event-1129
http://paynoisbatman.tumblr.com/post/153840517386/ot5alwaysinmyheart-babygate-20-press-based-on
11-30-16 (still refusing to comment despite being completely obvious)
https://www.thesun.co.uk/tvandshowbiz/2293737/pregnant-cheryl-is-beyond-happy-and-not-trying-to-hide-anything-about-expecting-first-child-with-liam-payne/
12-14-16
https://www.thesun.co.uk/tvandshowbiz/2398358/pregnant-cheryl-shows-off-her-bump-as-she-visits-fellow-mum-to-be-and-best-friend-kimberley-walsh-who-says-shell-be-a-brilliant-mum/
1-17-17
https://www.thesun.co.uk/tvandshowbiz/2636296/cheryl-unveils-enormous-baby-bump-in-skin-tight-dress-during-glamorous-new-photoshoot/
2-23-17
https://www.thesun.co.uk/tvandshowbiz/2932949/cheryl-shows-off-bulging-baby-bump-for-first-time-days-ahead-of-giving-birth-to-first-child-with-liam-payne/
On top of that, Cheryl has still never confirmed being pregnant even though it became obvious since she kept wearing baggy clothes at first and then started wearing form fitting ones that made it obvious she had a bump. She and people around her have bemoaned a lack of privacy while her friends still somehow keep talking to the press and she still keeps making high profile outings that come with pap pics attached.
Liam hasn’t said a single word although the press attributes just about everything unrelated he does to Cheryl’s pregnancy.
7-30-16
http://www.mirror.co.uk/3am/celebrity-news/simon-cowell-reveals-cheryl-fernandez-8529036
10-31-16
https://www.thesun.co.uk/tvandshowbiz/2089429/kimberley-walsh-gets-coy-on-cheryl-rumours/
11-23-16
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-3965016/X-Factor-choreographer-Brian-Friedman-confirms-Cheryl-s-pregnancy.html
12-1-16
http://www.j-14.com/posts/liam-payne-s-sister-ruth-payne-breaks-her-silence-on-cheryl-cole-s-pregnancy-120131
12-10-16
http://www.mirror.co.uk/3am/celebrity-news/sharon-osbourne-confirms-cheryl-pregnancy–9428774
12-11-16
http://www.digitalspy.com/music/news/a816592/louis-walsh-wishes-cheryl-the-best-after-liam-payne-twitter-rant/
12-13-16
http://www.mirror.co.uk/3am/celebrity-news/kimberley-walsh-confirms-cheryls-pregnancy-9449997
12-17-16
http://www.mirror.co.uk/3am/celebrity-news/liam-payne-asks-fans-questions-9473649
1-10-17
https://www.thesun.co.uk/tvandshowbiz/2578016/will-i-am-speaks-about-pregnant-former-bff-cheryl-and-how-she-is-always-in-and-out-of-bad-relationships/
1-26-17
http://www.mirror.co.uk/3am/celebrity-news/cheryls-pregnancy-confirmed-niall-horan-9695801
2-16-17
https://www.thesun.co.uk/tvandshowbiz/2880127/liam-payne-pictured-partying-with-friends-at-london-nightclub-until-2-30am-but-refuses-to-answer-questions-about-pregnant-girlfriend-cheryl/
In fact, the press has a habit of manufacturing stories about Twitter trends that never happened or were about something completely different in order to push the chosen narrative.
http://paynoisbatman.tumblr.com/post/151983994016/lifechangeing-the-mouthpieces-are-so-blatantly
Weird Story
The main thing is that Liam’s relationship with Cheryl and especially the idea that they’re already having a child in their situation is ludicrous.
Everyone has their own style of dating, but there’s nothing to suggest that Liam would get so serious with someone so quickly even based on past narratives. Liam supposedly dated Danielle for around 3 years and Sophia for about the same amount of time, and yet he never even proposed to them according to the official narrative. Why would he decide to have a baby with someone he’d been dating for only around 6 months?
On Cheryl’s part, she had been ostensibly married 2 times before and was still legally married to her previous husband. It wasn’t until October that the divorce was made official and that’s 3-4 months after she supposedly conceived. Why would she get pregnant when she hadn’t even finished divorcing her last beau? She’s already failed 2 marriages according to her narrative, so why would she jump so deeply into a 3rd only months in?
For both of them, the timing is bad because they both had rumors of solo work. Liam is definitely releasing solo music while the chatter about Cheryl’s died out completely. Two artists planning to do solo music don’t have enough time to take care of themselves much less bring a baby into the world. Most artists wait until they have at least a year that they can take off to focus on the new child.
Cheryl is older, but Liam is still very young. While he seems to want to have kids at some point, most young people who are working on building their careers like Liam is aren’t thinking about having kids just yet. While kids are wonderful, they also take a lot of time and attention that someone trying to build a career doesn’t usually have to spare.
Simon Cowell
Another thing is that Chiam is heavily connected to Simon Cowell. The relationship was used as promo for X-Factor more than once with articles about how Liam could judge alongside Cheryl, how Liam and Cheryl first met on X-Factor (with a gross pedophilia angle included), and about how Liam was “defending Cheryl from Louis Walsh” even though his tweet was about Louis’ band and not Cheryl.
Simon has had several articles of his own where he’s quoted talking about Liam and Cheryl and just like with Louis in babygate, there are articles about how Liam is likely to make Simon the godfather or even name the baby after Simon. The press follows the same patterns that Simon and Louis’ press followed during babygate, so it only stands to reason that babygate 2.0 is BS.
It’s different BS because Cheryl seems to be actually pregnant. More than likely she decided she wanted to have a kid and used IVF to do it. Liam has nothing to do with it, but he’s being used as the stand in father for now. Cheryl has been rumored to be in a secret relationship with Kimberly Walsh for years, so much people think it’s their child.
Other Things About Chiam
Something else to keep in mind is that, like has been done before, Liam supposedly posted a “romantic picture” of Cheryl that was pulled directly from her professional calendar and is supposedly also from when she had her “honeymoon” with her previous husband.
http://saracha33.tumblr.com/post/140693959392/that-cheryl-pic-was-from-her-2015-calendar-i
http://ldbigg.tumblr.com/post/140695537200/liam-sweetie-no
Also: Cheryl having a “romantic lockscreen” on her phone that’s actually a promo picture of Liam from 2013.
http://zaynispureperfection.tumblr.com/post/151333582624/somewhereisaplacethatziamknow
http://paynoisbatman.tumblr.com/post/153871972161/a-quick-psa
All the narrative surrounding Chiam is so ridiculous that more than one publication has actually called them out on the relationship being fake.
http://paynoisbatman.tumblr.com/post/146118183491/bearding-gone-bad-or-the-curious-cases-of-zigi
It’s pretty much all in the press I linked, but Cheryl and Liam were papped out pretty often. I have to reiterate: papping is not a natural and unavoidable part of life. Celebs don’t have to be papped. Pap agencies are for hire by entertainment companies and even if there are random paps, celebrities succeed on a daily basis at going unseen through back doors designed for their privacy.
Liam and Ziam
Another reason I know that Chiam is fake is because Liam is with Zayn and has been since late 2012 more than likely. Some people will argue about how we can’t know that for sure, but the evidence more than speaks for itself in my opinion. You just have to look at all the evidence first.
Ziam
To get you started, if you haven’t already watched the I Like Your Skirt Mary videos, those are usually the best place to start: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCR4Rft6c2zASrzQ_ItGwmIg
I also have a specific Ziam resources tag. That’s another good place to start. The other tags below are about more specific topics.
logic why Ziam is real
Ziam is real resources
Zerrie is fake
why people don’t believe in Ziam (but should)
why including Ziam is important for Larry speculation
why do people think Ziam is casual
proof vs cute- labeling is important
Ziam tattoos
jealousy
If you’re wondering if they’re still together, they are. We know this because:
1) Zayn wrote his entire album about Liam:
http://bakagamieru.tumblr.com/post/141803083358/mind-of-mine
2) Liam and Zayn have been sending hints out like crazy since Zayn was forced to quit the band:
Zayn Shade
Liam Shade
Ziam are going strong
2015-2016 Ziam
2016 Ziam and here
Ziam hints and shade
Liam and Closeting
Do you know how Louis has BS 1.0 and 2.0 even though he personally has never shown any homophobia and in fact has been very supportive of the LGBT+ community when possible?
The same thing happened to Liam. Liam is very LGBT+ positive and has made several remarks that indicate he has a romantic interest in males: http://bakagamieru.tumblr.com/post/131221342518/liam-payne, but he’s had a couple Twitter incidents like BS 1.0 and 2.0. The most prominent was probably Duck Dynasty which was clearly promo for the show that social media managers were doing on Liam’s account.
Do you know about the green and blue stickers RBB used during OTRA to symbolize Harry and Louis? Well they weren’t the only ones. Niall, Zayn, and Liam all had stickers too.
RBB helped count down to the end of Liam’s bearding with Sophia:
http://bakagamieru.tumblr.com/post/149572469263/ps-i-really-really-dont-believe-the-hibernation#notes
http://bakagamieru.tumblr.com/post/144774658418/rbb-and-liam#notes
http://bakagamieru.tumblr.com/post/131919359468/lovesincerelyharry-countdown#notes
RBB was also involved in warning that Liam’s appearance in Attitude wasn’t going to be positive and Liam posted a warning on instagram too: http://bakagamieru.tumblr.com/post/144770845188/liam-and-attitude-gate-ft-rbb#notes
There are so many reasons to believe Zayn and Liam are together and closeted. Use the tags I linked above because they’ll link to other resources and most anything you could wonder about will be covered.