Uh, Liam Payne's Rumored New GF Responded To Those Cheating Claims 👀

Directioners, listen up! Aliana Mawla is standing up for herself following speculation that she broke up Liam Payne and his now ex Maya Henry. OK, OK, let’s backtrack a little: On May 23, cheating rumors started when Henry took to Instagram to ask fans to stop tagging her in an IG post of Payne and a mystery woman looking veryyy cozy together. Spoiler: It was Mawla in the pic, not Henry. Still, Henry referred to Payne as her “fiancé,” sparking major infidelity speculation. Now, however, Payne’s rumored new girlfriend Mawla is responding to the cheating claims — and she’s not happy.

"Aliana is very taken back by the accusations that have been made regarding a relationship with Liam while he was still engaged or involved with [his] ex-fiancée," Mawla’s rep told E! on May 29. "Under no circumstances would Aliana have involved herself in a public relationship as such if there was any truth to the comments that have been made."

The comments in question? “Please stop sending me these pictures of my fiancé wrapped around another woman,” Payne’s ex-fiancée wrote on IG on May 23. “This is not me and it’s hard enough knowing this has happened without seeing it. Enough now.” Where do broken hearts go? Instagram, apparently.

OK, so it totally makes sense that Mawla wanted to clear things up, but don’t get too used to her openness. Aside from addressing the rumors, it appears that Mawla plans to keep the rest of the details about her new relationship private. “She is very protective of her personal life and has nothing more to say at the moment other than she is very happy and does not wish to discuss this situation moving forward,” Mawla’s rep continued. Fair enough! (Elite Daily reached out to Liam Payne’s reps for comments on his current relationship status and Henry’s cheating claims, but did not hear back in time for publication.)

Fun fact: this photo isn’t actually the first time Payne and Mawla have been spotted together. If the model looks familiar to you, that might be because she was featured in the music video for Payne’s song “Familiar” (talk about a dream job 😍).

If their canoodling pics are any hint, things seem to be looking up for Payne and Mawla. And yet this drama appears to be going in one direction: south. "Maya was blindsided by the split," a close source told E! on May 25 of Payne’s ex. "He abruptly ended it with her. She is very upset. They have definitely had their fair share of ups and downs in their relationship."

I’ll say. A month prior to their breakup on March 24, the couple seemed cute as ever at the Taste the Future Luncheon at the Four Seasons Hotel in Beverly Hills, but their relationship does have a reputation for being a little rocky. The couple got engaged in August 2020 but called it off less than a year later in June 2021. By September of that year, Payne and Henry found their way back together before breaking up (seemingly for good) sometime in April 2022.

TL;DR: Things are still pretty messy, but as long as Payne and Mawla are happy, it doesn’t seem like any Instagram drama will drag them down.