Bizarre detail in celebrity break-up

A famous celebrity couple called it quits for good in 2022, but there’s a strange twist in their break-up going viral.

He’s the former star of One Direction whose dating life often takes up column inches.

But now Liam Payne’s ex-girlfriend Maya Henry has written a novel about a girl falling in love with a boy band member; but of course, it’s fiction “inspired by true events”.

While most of us have to settle for the odd 2am text message as a reminder of our ex-partners, Maya has decided to kick things up a notch and write a book about dating pop star.

The pair were engaged. Picture: Backgrid

Maya's a successful model. Picture: Instagram/MayaHenry

The book Looking Forward follows a small-town girl who gets swept up in a significant romance with a man from a fictional boy band called, quite unsubtly, ‘5 Forward’.

The protagonist is named Mallory and is from Texas.

I’m sure entirely unrelated to Maya also being from Texas.

“Mallory is very similar to me. That is why it was easy for me to write her character and put the emotions in there,” she told People.

As for her main character, Oliver, she doesn’t pretend it is a coincidence that he is a is British boy bander and her ex is also a British boy bander.

She’s taken the phrase “write what you know” and run with it all the way to the printers.

“While not everyone dates a pop star, I feel like everyone dates someone like Oliver,” she pointed out.

Works of fiction aside, she also told the publication that she thought she was “naive” when she was dating Liam because it was her first real adult relationship.

“I don’t know if it was a power imbalance. I feel like maybe my love was taken advantage of in a way,” she explained.

She has things in common with the main character in her book. Picture: Instagram/MayaHenry

Liam was in One Direction. Picture: Instagram/LiamPayne

Liam and Maya hooked up around 2019. She was only 18 then, and he was 26, fresh from his break-up with singer Cheryl Cole, with whom he shares his son Bear.

They got engaged in 2020, broke up in 2021 and got back together in 2022, but then called it quits for good all in the same year.

Even after they broke up, the drama wasn’t over, and Maya commented on a fan’s page that posted a photo of the One Direction star hanging out with an unknown woman.

She's written a book after their break-up. Picture: Instagram/MayaHenry

“I love all of the fans so much, but please stop sending me these pictures of my fiance wrapped around another woman. This is not me and it’s hard enough knowing this has happened without seeing it. Enough now,” she wrote.

Liam is at least aware that he isn’t great at being a boyfriend. In 2021, he appeared on the podcast Diary of a CEO, hosted by Steven Bartlett, and said he could have been better at the whole relationship thing.

“I feel like more than anything at this point, I’m more disappointed in myself that I keep on hurting people. That annoys me. I’ve just not been very good at relationships,” he admitted.

Originally published as Bizarre detail in celebrity break-up