Have Cheryl and Liam split up? Not according to their Brit Awards appearance

They've been together for around 18 months - and already have a young son, Bear, together.

However, in recent weeks - having not been seen in each other's company for some time - rumour was abound that Cheryl Tweedy and Liam Payne were living separate lives and were on the verge of splitting. Then the Brits red-carpet happened... and suffice to say that the couple have very much put paid to speculation. Walking arm-in-arm, Cheryl and Liam were very much loved-up - in a dazing-into-each-other's-eyes kinda way. Not only that, but awards host Jack Whitehall selected them for an impromptu interview at their table.

Referring to Liam's performance of the Fifty Shades Freed soundtrack's For You, Jack asked: "You're performing later, the song from the Fifty Shades film, it's going to get quite racy, is there a safe word?"

To which Liam responded while motioning towards his girlfriend: "She knows what the safe word is." Cheryl's reply was pretty racy too - a clear "don't stop!" The Sun had recently cited the "big age gap" - she's 34; he's 24 - as a reason for the apparent strain between them. "If they didn’t have Bear then they would have most likely split up by now," a source had stated. However, it was also added: "They haven’t split but have addressed the fact they have work to do on the relationship and both want to work things out."