One Direction’s Liam Payne Shares Rare Photo of 6-Year-Old Son Bear

Bear Payne might just have the X-Factor.

After all, Liam Payne revealed his 6-year-old son may be interested in following in his footsteps after the duo visited a billboard for his latest single, "Teardrops."

The One Direction alum shared a rare glimpse at life with his son, who he shares with ex Cheryl Cole, posting a snap from behind of Bear looking at the advertisement. He captioned the March 1 Instagram post by appearing to share Bear's reaction to the billboard, writing, "I want to be on a billboard one day daddy."

Fans were immediately taken by how much Bear has grown over the years, as Liam and Cheryl have made an effort to keep him out of the spotlight. One social media user exclaimed, "HOW IS HE SO BIG?" Another wrote, "He's so big, it seems like he was born yesterday!"

In fact, Liam—who dated the Girls Aloud alum from 2016 to 2018, has previously shared why it's important for him and Cheryl to keep their son off social media.

"Obviously, we protected his identity to start off with, and that's not being pretentious or anything other than the fact that I want to give him a chance to be Bear first," the 30-year-old explained on The Diary of a CEO with Stephen Barlett podcast in June 2021. "I made my choice to be where I was at 14/15, so I figure he can make his own choice then, too."

But the "Strip That Down" singer hasn't shied away from discussing parenthood. 

"I see him two times a week, three times a week sometimes," he told People in March 2022. "And I make sure when I see him, he has 100 percent of my time. I make sure that I'm not on my phone or dicking around somewhere else."

Want to see more celebs and their kids? Keep reading to see some bear-y cute parent-child duos.

Like mother like daughter. After becoming a household name on The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills, the former supermodel Yolanda Hadid's daughter Gigi Hadid broke into the fashion industry as a teen and has been rocking runways ever since.

Clint Eastwood's fifth child, son Scott Eastwood, has followed in his movie star footsteps by starring in films like Suicide Squad, Snowden, The Fate of the Furious and Pacific Rim.

The Bon Jovi singer and his third child is his mini-me. Pictured: The two appear on either sides of with the musician's wife, Dorothea Bongiovi, and their youngest son Romeo Bongiovi at the Jefferson Awards Foundation' 2017 DC National Ceremony at the Capital Hilton in Washington, DC. in 2017.

The look-alike duo is all smiles while attending a 2016 performance of Finding Neverland in the Big Apple. 

Woah, the Marsden men's resemblance was uncanny at the 2017 SAG Awards.

Double take! The Real Housewives of Atlanta alum's  daughter looks like her younger sister!

The soccer star has the cutest plus-one ever at the London premiere of Ronaldo.

The teen is following in her mom's footsteps as a budding model and a bombshell!

Mini-me indeed! Kate's daughter clearly inherited her momma's gorgeous looks.

Here posing for an Instagram snap before the Hot Pursuit premiere in Los Angeles, mom and her daughter have never looked more alike!

The two looked nearly identical at the Vanity Fair Oscars party in 2015.

With their matching jumpsuits, sleek hair and glasses, the two look more like twins than mother and daughter! "That moment when you realize you actually are becoming your mother #twinning #imnotmad," Willis joked on Instagram.

Pictured here in 2010, the pop icon's daughter is a fashionista just like her mama!

We'll make another exception for this fierce father-son duo: The soccer stud-turned-model and his son are sure dreamy.

The spunky morning show host celebrated her daughter's 14th birthday with this adorable pic. Look at that resemblance!

Once upon a time in Hollywood...the Kill Bill actress twinned with her daughter on the red carpet.

Little Blue stole the show at the 2017 Grammys, and she's totally #twinning with her pops!

The Days of Our Lives star and her daughter get in the holiday spirit at Disney On Ice Presents Frozen at the Staples Center. 

The mother-daughter pair looked like virtual twinsies (especially with those matching bobs) at the Chanel fall-winter Haute Couture show in Paris.

Like mother, like daughter! The Oscar-winner and her daughter are both redheaded beauties.

The nearly identical stunning stars even dress the same!

The Fuller House star and her daughter are practically twins at the Summer TCA Press Tour. 

The Last of the Mohicans and Lincoln star's young adult son, whose mother is French actress Isabelle Adjani, made his big runway debut at 2015 Paris Fashion Week, walking into the Chanel show with Julianne Moore.

The two stunned on the red carpet at the Olivier Awards in London.

If you didn't know better, you might've guessed they were sisters!

This apple certainly doesn't fall far from the tree!

Yup, we see Meryl's graceful looks in each of her daughters!

John Legend posted this baby photo of himself, looking exactly like baby Luna on Oct. 6, 2017

This bombshell mother-daughter duo never fail to turn heads.