Liam Payne is riding high right now with the release of his EP First Time – and while his career is booming, his personal life is in a bit of a rough patch. The singer announced his split from Cheryl Cole in July after two years of dating and having a son, Bear, together. And now, he’s opening up about just how hard the breakup has been for him.

In an interview with Kat Shoob on the Big Top 40 radio show, she asked Liam how he’s doing since he has been through a lot recently. After joking around a bit at first, he got real and admitted yeah, breakups are hard for everyone and it’s something he’s still processing.

“I’m feeling OK, I’m a bit fragile at times,” Liam jokingly said. “No, I’m alright you know, it’s been OK. Obviously there’s a lot of stuff I’ve still got to sort out with my life but, I’m enjoying it. I mean that bit of it is difficult and you’re trying like, you break up and obviously we’d broken up and then it was like a couple of days or a couple of weeks before we actually put the announcement out and that’s the bit when it really hits home I guess.” 

Liam and Cheryl took to Twitter to share their official breakup statement – and Liam went on to explain that having to put all this information out in the public is never something you get used to, despite the fact that he is a celebrity and has been dealing with this level of fame and interest in his life for eight years now.

“But at the same point it’s like breaking up twice like, we already did this once and now I’m having to go through all of that again just because I have to tell people I don’t really know. Not the fans so much, but it feels like you’re talking to the magazine or the newspaper and nothing against any of these people, but it is a bit weird sometimes. You know, and I didn’t really expect any of this obviously and it’s, yeah I mean, it’s difficult,” he said. 

And just because Liam is a celeb, that doesn’t mean he goes through heartbreak any differently than the rest of us.

“I think sometimes people need to remember that behind all those statements and things there are actually people who are going through the same sort of stuff that you go through whether they’re famous, rich or whatever they are, it doesn’t really matter,” he said.

UGH, our hearts. It’s obvious Liam is sad about the split, and while he was spotted getting cozy with model Cairo Dwek, any longtime fan knows Liam has always been a relationship guy. In the early One Direction days, he dated Danielle Peazer for three years and then was head over heels for Sophia Smith for two years. It seemed like Cheryl could’ve been the one for him since they started a family together, but he’s on the hunt for love again. At least we know he’s currently working on music that will for sure be inspired by all this relationship drama, so perhaps writing and recording some fire jams are what he needs to help him move on. We’re here for you, Liam. And all the new music we know is coming our way when that album drops.

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