Liam Payne And Cheryl Expecting First Child

Soon One Direction will have two dads in it: Liam Payne and girlfriend Cheryl are expecting their first child together, People magazine has confirmed.

The British tabloid the Sun is also reporting the news, with sources telling the paper: "[Cheryl is] beyond happy and not trying to hide anything." The source added that Cheryl is choosing not to comment publicly on her pregnancy. "Cheryl has told close friends and family the very exciting news that she is expecting her first child. She is absolutely ecstatic," the insider said. "She doesn't want to speak publicly about it for a number of reasons, particularly due to some of the battles she has gone through in her personal life in recent years. Obviously, everyone wants to hear it come from her, but she is keeping quiet for now. At the event last night she was proudly showing off her bump and telling everyone how happy she was."

Those "battles" include two pretty ugly divorces, first from soccer player Ashley Cole in 2010, then from restaurateur Jean-Bernard Fernandez-Versini in 2014.

The couple reportedly made the non-announcement last night at a charity event, where the former X Factor judge, 33, wore a bump-clinging sweater dress. Payne, 23, was seen "walking behind Cheryl at some points with his hand on her back," according to E! News. E! also reports that Cheryl is in her second trimester.

Cheryl and Payne first met when he auditioned for the X Factor as a teenager, though they didn't begin dating until much later—around December 2015. Speculation that the former Girls Aloud singer was expecting began in September, when Directioners noticed her face looked a bit fuller in a L'Oreal ad—even though to a normal person, she looked, well, normal.

Payne's One Direction bandmate, Louis Tomlinson, welcomed a baby boy in January 2016.