Liam Payne's ex Sophia Smith: 'His new romance is so weird'

Liam Payne's ex-girlfriend Sophia Smith finds his supposed romance with pop star Cheryl Fernandez-Versini "so weird".

The One Direction singer, aged 22, shocked fans when he appeared to confirm his new relationship with Cheryl, who is ten years his senior, on Instagram in February (16) . The pair have also since been seen in each other's social media posts and been snapped enjoying a night out at a casino.

Liam's ex-girlfriend Sophia, who dated him for more than two years, admits she was surprised by his new romance because she never thought they would go public.

"It’s so weird," she tells Britain's Now magazine. “I knew about them a little while ago, but who thought it would actually come out? I didn’t.”

Liam and Sophia, who met at school, first began dating in 2013 but they split a year later. They rekindled their relationship months afterwards but finally called it quits due to long distance at the end of last year (15).

Sophia tells the magazine she's doing fine since the split, saying, “Yeah… I’m okay. I’m all good."

Her comments come amid reports Liam and Cheryl are "practically moved in together" as Cheryl has been staying over at his mansion in Surrey, England so often. A source tells Britain's Heat magazine "they even bought new furniture to make his place more homely."

Liam previously told how devastated he was following his split from Sophia, telling Britain's Sun on Sunday newspaper, "I'm absolutely devastated to have split with Sophia. Being on the tour all this year and being away from her was so hard. We spent so much time apart..

"But in order to do right by somebody sometimes it's better not to do what your heart wants, but to do what's better for them. Right now I'm looking forward to some alone time to figure out who I am and what I want to be."

Cheryl is reportedly in the process of divorcing her second husband Jean-Bernard Fernandez-Versini.