Liam Payne’s ex-girlfriend Sophia Smith is engaged to boyfriend James Bridgwood, just two months after the singer’s tragic death.
Smith posted a sweet black-and-white video of the proposal, which showed her and her new fiancé, clad in pajamas, sitting on a floor covered with rose petals and a bottle of prosecco.
The influencer, 30, appeared stunned and smiled wide while Bridgwood placed the ring on her finger.
The couple’s 1-year-old daughter, Angelina, was also wandering around the room during the proposal but stopped to join in for a group hug.
“Yes a million times over ❤️💍 25.12.24,” she captioned the sweet video.
Smith received hundreds of comments from fans and friends congratulating her on the big news –– including two women from the One Direction inner circle.
“Aw Soph ❤️,” Lou Teasdale –– who was the former hair and makeup artist for the boy band –– commented.
“😭😭😭💕💕💕✨ congratulations,” Louis Tomlinson’s sister Lottie Tomlinson commented.
Smith made her relationship with Bridgwood Instagram-official in June 2022, and she announced that she was pregnant with their first child together in December 2022.
Prior to her relationship with Bridgwood, Smith dated Payne from 2013 to 2015. The two were initially childhood friends in Wolverhampton, England.
“I didn’t actually go out with her at the time [when we were younger],” Payne said in a September 2015 interview with Attitude. “I used to see her at school and we’d kind of chat. I asked her sister for her number. She was very shy and didn’t give much indication that she liked me, so I just assumed that she wasn’t interested, as well as thinking, she was way too hot for me anyway.”
Payne revealed that once they did start dating, they even “talked about marriage” at the time. However, they ultimately decided to focus on their individual careers and called it quits in October 2015.
“Being on the tour all this year and being away from her was so hard,” Payne told the Sun. “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.”
The “Teardrops” singer went on to date Cheryl Cole –– whom he welcomed son Bear with –– followed by Maya Henry and Kate Cassidy before he died at age 31 on Oct. 16.
Payne was dating Cassidy at the time of his death. They were vacationing together in Buenos Aires, Argentina, before she left by herself.
Just days after she fled, Payne tragically died after falling three floors from his hotel balcony while under the influence of drugs.
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