Liam Payne’s ex-girlfriend and former schoolmate Sophia Smith is making a fresh start with her boyfriend-turned-fiancé, James Bridgwood.
The influencer, 30, made her engagement announcement with a black-and-white video of the proposal posted to Instagram on Friday.
“Yes, a million times,” he wrote in the caption with a heart and ring emoji, before noting that the proposal took place on Christmas.
From the looks of the black-and-white video of the proposal, Bridgwood kept it intimate and private as the couple sat on the floor in their Christmas pajamas, next to some rose petals and a bottle of white wine when he pulled out the ring.
Smith looked stunned and smiled widely as Bridgwood put the ring on her finger. Angelina, the couple’s one-year-old daughter, also wandered around the room during the proposal before stopping to join in for a group hug.
Congratulations were in order as fans and friends, including two women from One Direction’s inner circle, rejoiced at the big news.
“Aw Soph,” commented Lou Teasdale, former One Direction hair and makeup artist, with a heart emoji.
Louis Tomlinson’s sister Lottie Tomlinson also congratulated the couple along with a series of crying and heart emojis.
Smith went Instagram exclusive with Bridgwood in June 2022 with the announcement 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. Initially, the two were childhood friends in Wolverhampton, England.
“I didn’t actually date her at the time. [when we were younger]” Payne revealed in a September 2015 interview with Attitude.
“I used to see her at school and we would chat. I asked his sister for her number. She was very shy and didn’t give much indication that she liked me, so I just assumed she wasn’t interested, plus I thought she was too good for me anyway.”
Payne added that once they started dating, they even “talked about marriage” at the time. The two eventually decided to focus on their individual careers and called it quits in October 2015.
The late pop star dated Cheryl Cole, with whom he welcomed son Bear, before splitting soon after and dating his ex-fiancee Maya Henry. Liam was dating Kate Cassidy when he died aged 31 on October 16.
