Cheryl and Liam Payne split in year of celebrity separations

Cheryl and Liam Payne’s decision to split up after more than two years together follows a string of celebrity splits announced in recent months.

Channing Tatum and Jenna Dewan, Jennifer Aniston and Justin Theroux, Ariana Grande and Mac Miller, and Jack Osbourne and Lisa Stelly are also among the couples announcing that they have called it a day.

Singer Usher and his wife, Grace Miguel, revealed in March that they have “decided to separate”.

“The enormous amount of love and respect that we have for each other will only increase as we move forward,” they said in a joint statement.

In February, The Crown star Claire Foy announced she has split from her husband, actor Stephen Campbell Moore.

“We have separated and have been for some time,” Foy said.

“We do however continue as great friends with the utmost respect for one another,” she said in a statement in The Sun.

That same month a headline-grabbing split was announced – Aniston and Theroux.

The couple said in a statement released through Aniston’s publicist that the decision to split “was mutual and lovingly made at the end of last year”.

The pair got engaged in 2012 and tied the knot in 2015.

In February, Sarah Silverman announced that she and Michael Sheen had split up after dating for four years.

The US comedian could not resist a joke, quipping that they had “consciously uncoupled”, borrowing a phrase used by Gwyneth Paltrow and Chris Martin.

“The great Michael Sheen and I consciously uncoupled over Christmas,” she wrote on Twitter.

“I mean, not ‘over Christmas’ – like that wasn’t the fight that ended it. No fight.

“We just live in different countries and it got hard.”

Zayn Malik and Gigi Hadid confirmed they had split in March but already appear to have reunited.

The pair – who first got together in November 2015 – shared separate statements announcing tha they had called it a day.

Former One Direction star Malik, 25, said in a statement on Twitter that he had a “huge amount of respect and adoration” for US model Hadid.

He added that the 22-year-old “has such an incredible soul” – but has recently been appearing on her Instagram Stories and has been photographed wearing her T-shirt.

Actress Alicia Silverstone and singer husband Christopher Jarecki also confirmed in February that they had split after 20 years together.

“They still deeply love and respect each other and remain very close friends but have mutually decided to separate after being together for 20 years,” Silverstone’s publicist said in a statement to People.

Girls creator Lena Dunham and Fun singer Jack Antonoff split up after five years together in January but remain close friends.

In June she shared a photo of the pair together, writing: “best friends 4ever.”

Actor John Cena and WWE star Nikki Bella also called time on their six-year relationship, just weeks before they were due to tie the knot.

Bella wrote on Twitter in April: “After much contemplation and 6 years of being together Nikki Bella and John Cena announced today their decision to separate as a couple.

“While this decision was a difficult one, we continue to have a great deal of love and respect for one another.”

Grande and Miller split up in May after first going public with their relationship in 2016.

The duo had previously duetted on single The Way.

She is now engaged to Saturday Night Live comedian Pete Davidson.

Osbourne and Stelly were another couple to split up in May, when they confirmed the end of their marriage after seven years and three children together.

He wrote on Instagram: “Our family is the most important thing in our lives, and we tried everything we could for many years to make this work.

“What’s best for our family right now is that we separate lovingly, and remain best friends who are committed to raising our children together.”