After they broke up, Liam Payne’s ex-girlfriend, Maya Henry, began working on a book about their relationship. While the book is a novel, not a memoir, sources close to Henry say she pulled many details from her real, troubled relationship with the former One Direction singer. Some details do not exactly paint Payne in a flattering light, but he reportedly had few concerns about the book.

Liam Payne’s ex-girlfriend wrote a novel about their relationship

In 2024, Henry published the book Looking Forward. It follows the relationship between a model and a boy band singer. While the book is fiction, Henry pulled a great deal of information from her real relationship with Payne.

“It was written as a memoir, basically,” a source close to Henry told Rolling Stone. “But then she made little changes throughout for creative reasons. Some of the dialogue is fake.”

The fictional couple’s relationship is marred by drug use and abuse. The singer chases the model with an ax and snorts cocaine in front of her mother and grandmother. The source claims these things really happened in Payne and Henry’s relationship. Despite this, Payne reportedly had few concerns about the book.

“He mentioned it once, but he wasn’t concerned at all,” his friend, Rogelio Nores, said.

Liam Payne’s ex-girlfriend spoke about the end of their relationship

In a statement, Henry said her relationship with Payne ended because of his drug and alcohol use. She felt he was a different person when he wasn’t sober.

“This was someone I loved very much,” she wrote. “Initially, it was the drug use and addictions that tore us apart. Anyone who has been with an addict understands how difficult that is. While I loved him deeply, he did things that hurt me in ways I’ll never fully understand, and he continued to hurt me years after we broke up. On drugs, he became someone unrecognizable — so different from his sober self.”

For a while, she said she hoped she could support him through his addictions.

“I kept hoping each incident would be a wake-up call for him to get help, but it never was,” she said, adding, “I tried to be there for him. I loved him so much that I convinced myself I could fix things.”

While she said she doesn’t blame him for his addiction, Henry said it became too much for her to handle.

“In the end, it wasn’t just the betrayals or the addictions that broke us — it was the realization that I had spent years in something that was never what I thought it was,” she said. “I don’t fault him for his struggles.”

Those close to her shared the toll the relationship took on her

A source close to Henry said the relationship began to wear her down.

“Babysitting [Liam] was exhausting,” one source said. “Maya spent years helping and staying by the side of Liam, who in return wouldn’t get help or seek help for his drug use, violent outbursts, or addictions.”

Things got worse during the COVID-19 lockdowns. His career slowed considerably.

“[Liam] wasn’t recording; he wasn’t touring,” the source said. “It was like you took someone who had mental-health problems, likely had sexuality issues, already had a drug problem, and then you took away everything that kept him busy — recording, touring, interviews, etc. — and he’s just left with his problems. And then Maya was just kind of held captive. She’s like Ronnie Spector in Phil Spector’s house: She can’t do anything.”

How to get help: In the U.S., contact the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration helpline at 1-800-662-4357.