Liam Payne Breaks His Silence On Sophia Smith Split: ‘I’m Absolutely Devastated’

For the first time since his split from Sophia Smith, Liam Payne is opening up about his heartbreak. In a new interview the One Direction singer admits to being completely ‘devastated’ over the breakup, and reveals why things were ‘so hard’ in the most recent months of the romance.

Poor Liam Payne! The newly-single singer has been having a tough time dealing with his breakup from Sophia Smith, and is opening up for the first time about what he’s been going through in a new interview — but his response just completely breaks out hearts!

“I’m absolutely devastated to have split with Sophia,” Liam told The Sun, ahead of One Direction’s final tour stop over the weekend. “Being on tour all this year and being away from her was so hard. 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.”

Things must have been really strained between these two, because all they would’ve had to do was last a few more weeks until the 22-year-old was spending a lot more time at home. After the release of 1D’s new album on Nov. 13, they’ll do a bit of promotion, but are then taking a well-deserved break after five nonstop years.

But now that he’s single, Liam has different plans for how he’ll spend the time off. “Right now, I’m looking forward to some alone time to figure out who I am and what I want to be,” he explained, adding that he plans to do some work in “publishing, collaborating and writing songs for other artists.”

As HollywoodLife.com EXCLUSIVELY reported, Sophia decided to end things with Liam after more than two years when she felt things were simply getting too serious. “Sophia felt that their relationship was at a point where they either made a decision to get married and settle down, or they go on and do something else and experience more of the world,” an insider told us EXCLUSIVELY. “She chose the latter because she’s still so young. Sophia has always been an independent woman and believes she has a lot to achieve. She wants to remain amicable with Liam, but knows that’ll be harder now.”

HollywoodLifers, what do you think of Sophia and Liam’s split? Do you think they’ll end up getting back together?

— Alyssa Norwin