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'He is incredibly sad': One Direction's Liam Payne SPLITS from long-term girlfriend Sophia Smith... just days after cancelling Belfast concert due to illness

Published: 07:05 EST, 25 October 2015 | Updated: 09:35 EST, 25 October 2015

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Liam Payne has split from girlfriend Sophia Smith after two years of dating.

The news of the singer's break-up comes just days after One Direction were forced to cancel one of their live shows in Belfast due to him falling ill.

A source close to the 22-year-old star confirmed to MailOnline: 'Liam and Sophia have split.'

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Sadness: Liam Payne has split from his long-term girlfriend Sophia Smith, after two years of dating

'Liam is incredibly sad, but is going to keep busy. He really hopes that everybody will respect both his and Sophia's privacy and stop speculating,' the insider added.

The break-up rumours were thrown into confusion at first, as a fake Instagram account under Sophia's name seemed to deny everything.

Along with a photo of the pair together, a caption read: 'i love you more and more every day. #stop #the #rumours'.

On Saturday, Liam posted a cryptic message on his Twitter page, mirroring the sad news.

See the latest news on the One Direction boys and Liam Payne's split from Sophia Smith

Dramas: Earlier this week, Liam fell ill and One Direction were forced to cancel their Tuesday night gig in Belfast at the very last minute

'I love how music is always there for you when you need it most x,' he wrote in the post, which has now been retweeted well over 150,000 times by his adoring fans.

Liam and Sophia - who he started dating in 2013 after having been friends since their schooldays in Wolverhampton - had seemed like the strongest of the 1D couples.

After Louis Tomlinson split from his long-term girlfriend Eleanor Calder earlier this year, and after ex-One Direction member Zayn Malik called off his engagement to Perrie Edwards, it appeared Liam and Sophia were a romantic force with which to be reckoned.

Cryptic? Liam posted that 'music is always there for you' on Twitter on Saturday, as the split reports emerged

Strong bond: Liam and Sophia had dated since 2013, but had actually known each other from their schooldays back in Wolverhampton

Through thick and thin, world tours and endless rumours and scrutiny, Liam and Sophia had stuck by each other.

And the break-up news comes just weeks after the boyband hunk admitted that the pair were talking about marriage.

In an interview with Attitude magazine, he said: 'We have talked about marriage, but 22 seems a bit young for us. Sophia needs to go off and do what she wants to do.

'I don’t want her to be one of those stay-at-home girlfriends who doesn’t really do much.'

'He is incredibly sad': A source close to the 1D star has confirmed he's feeling the pain, but will keep himself busy

On Tuesday, Liam was deemed too unwell for One Direction to take to the stage in Belfast, with the announcement being made to thousands of fans just 30 minutes before they were due to appear.

A statement confirmed the following day that it was due to him being unwell and unable to perform that night, although on Wednesday he was back on top form as he rejoined by three fellow bandmates to continue their On The Road Again tour in the Northern Irish city.

The day after the cancelled gig - which was rescheduled for Friday - Liam took to Twitter to apologise to fans, who were left disappointed after Tuesday's cancellation.

However, there was little explanation over his sudden sickness.

He wrote: 'I'm so sorry to everybody I disappointed last night. I'm feeling better now. I really hope everyone can make the rescheduled date on Friday.

Talking about marriage: In a recent interview in Attitude magazine, Liam revealed he and Sophia were discussing tying the knot, but admitted they were too young

'Thank you so much for all the trends and lovely messages you guys did for me it really shows how amazing u guys actually are.'

He continued: 'As I said I'm feeling much better now and I really can't wait to perform and make it up to everyone later.'

While it was claimed that Liam had a 'mystery illness', The Sun - on Thursday - reported that the real reason behind his no show was because the singer had suffered a meltdown after being unable to cope with the pressures of fame.

A source told the paper: 'The pressure of fame and being on the road for two years have made Liam ill.'

They added: 'He wasn't physically able to get on stage. He had a complete meltdown.'

Liam and his fellow bandmates - Louis, Niall Horan and Harry Styles - are to take a break from One Direction in March, after completing their On The Road Tour and releasing their fifth studio album, Made In The A.M.