Having been going out with her for over a year and their first child’s birth imminent, Liam Payne has opened up about his love for girlfriend Cheryl, describing her as his “dream girl”.

The pair, who have been dating since February last year, have kept details of their relationship extremely private, with Cheryl only confirming her pregnancy at the end of last month despite months of increasingly obvious baby bump photos.

However, in a new interview with Rollacoaster magazine, 23 year old Liam spoke about his “most beautiful girlfriend” directly for the first time, admitting that he had had a crush on her ever since he was a teenager.

Liam PayneLiam Payne and Cheryl leaving a London restaurant in March 2016

“This is the thing. In a non-cliché way, it’s weird waking up every day and literally living out your dream. You wake up in the most beautiful places,” he gushed. “Obviously I have the most beautiful girlfriend in the world and she’s absolutely amazing. She’s been my dream girl since I was younger. She’s so ace.”

Aw!

More: Cheryl and Liam ‘officially move in together’ as baby’s due date approaches

As well as preparing for first-time parenthood, Cheryl, who is ten years Liam’s senior, is also mentoring him as he gets ready to launch his solo career outside of One Direction.

“She is a wonderful, wonderful person and it’s amazing to have someone who can relate to so much of things — someone who’s taken greater steps than me,” he said about her in a professional capacity. “Her solo career was amazing. She’s been in the industry for 14 years now.

“She fully supports me. We’re super happy. It’s a very personal, precious time for us. I’m still learning. I’m only 23.”

More: Liam Payne says he’s the “happiest I could be” during fan Q&A session