AceShowbiz - Liam Payne is still on good terms with his ex-girlfriend Cheryl Cole, praising the singer as an "absolutely awesome" mother to their two-year-old son Bear.

The 26-year-old singer got together with Cheryl, 36, in 2016 and the pair welcomed Bear in March the following year, before officially announcing their split in July 2018.

Since then, both have moved on from the romance - with Liam in a relationship with model Maya Henry - and the former One Direction star opened up about their co-parenting arrangement during an interview on Britain's "The Jonathan Ross Show", airing on Friday night, October 25.

"She is a fantastic mum, I can't complain, she's absolutely awesome," he gushed. "She doesn't get on to me when I'm out working, doing different things, she understands, we do the very same job so it's not that different for us but yeah, she's awesome."

Liam recently revealed he often goes for weeks without seeing his little boy because of his busy work life, but told host Jonathan that things are even more special when they get to spend time together - even though he sometimes struggles to "connect" with his son.

"He comes over to my house every so often and we just hang out. He is literally the most easy going child," he smiled. "I think you put pressure on yourself as a dad sometimes, especially it's hard to connect with a two-year-old, they will laugh at anything."

And it seems Bear might be following in the footsteps of his musical parents, and he's already developed a love of rap music.

"He had a real rap phase where he was buzzing off listening to (rap)... When we put rap music on, he'd be up (dancing)," Liam laughed.

It remains to be seen what Bear thinks of his dad's latest offering - Liam dropped new tune "All I Want (For Christmas)" on Friday. Despite the same title, it's not a cover of Mariah Carey's festive classic, but instead a soulful ballad about a couple struggling in their relationship.