Liam Payne’s ex Cheryl Cole said goodbye to the late One Direction member during his funeral on Wednesday.

Cole, 41, was seen at the service for Payne at a church in Amersham, England.

She looked somber and was dressed all in black. She also wore black sunglasses.

Cole dated Payne from 2016 to 2018. They welcomed their son Bear in 2017.

Bear was not photographed during the funeral.

Payne’s parents, Geoff and Karen, his girlfriend Kate Cassidy, and his former One Direction bandmates Harry Styles, Niall Horan, Louis Tomlinson and Zayn Malik were also at the service.

Simon Cowell, who formed One Direction on ‘The X Factor’, and James Corden, a long-time friend of the boy band, were also photographed paying their respects.

On October 16, Payne died suddenly at the age of 31 after falling from a hotel balcony in Argentina. After an extensive investigation, authorities in Buenos Aires revealed that Payne had fractured his skull and died instantly from “very serious injuries.” Officials do not believe his fall was intentional.

Prosecutors said Payne had alcohol, cocaine and an unspecified antidepressant in his system. Police arrested three people in connection with Payne’s death, alleging they supplied the singer with narcotics.

Two days after Payne’s death, Cole spoke out on social media, pleading for condolences as the internet speculated about what led to Payne’s death.

“As I try to get through this earth-shattering event and process my own grief during this indescribably painful time, I would like to gently remind everyone that we have lost a human being,” she wrote via Instagram alongside a throwback photo of Payne. with a newborn bear in bed.

“Liam was not only a pop star and celebrity, he was a son, a brother, an uncle, a dear friend and a father to our 7-year-old son. A son who now has to face the harsh reality that he will never see his father again.

I beg you. Before leaving comments or making videos, ask yourself if you want your own child or family to read them. Please give Liam what little dignity he has left after his death so he can finally rest in peace,” she added.

Cole and Payne first met in 2008, when he was just 14 and she was 24. That year, he auditioned for ‘X Factor’ for the first time, while Cole was one of the judges alongside Simon Cowell, Dannii Minogue and Louis . Walsh.

The “Promise This” singer called Payne “really cute” at the time.

Payne failed to appear on the show the first time, but he returned two years later in 2010 at the age of 16 to audition for ‘The X Factor’.

‘You certainly have. Whatever it is, you got it,” Cole told Payne after his second audition. “And I thought your voice was very, very powerful.”

That season, Payne was placed in One Direction and the five-member group went on to become one of the best-selling boy bands of all time.