Liam Payne is reportedly having a hard time getting over his breakup with girlfriend Sophia Smith.

"Liam and Sophia have split," a source reportedly told Mail Online, as quoted by Glamour. "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."

According to sources, Payne and Smith's breakup may have something to do with the issue of settling down.

"Sophia felt that their relationship was at a point where they either made a decision to get married and settle down, or they go on and do something else and experience more of the world," a source reportedly told Hollywood Life.

"She chose the latter because she's still so young. Sophia has always been an independent woman and believes she has a lot to achieve. She wants to remain amicable with Liam, but knows that'll be harder now."

In July, rumors that Liam Payne has proposed to his girlfriend took Twitter by storm. Unsurprisingly, the hashtag #SophiamIsEngaged trended worldwide in no time.

According to Mirror's previous report, though the hashtag #SophiamIsEngaged trended on Twitter, even Directioners themselves had a hard time believing that Liam Payne had really proposed to his girlfriend.

In fact, some of them even mocked the hashtag and implied that other fans only want to start rumors about One Direction singers.

It seemed that Liam Payne then only found humor in reports that he had engaged to his girlfriend.

According to OK! Magazine, Liam retweeted a fan's post that read "Zayn: slays NB, Harry: death threats, Louis: becomes a dad, Liam: gets engaged, Niall: #SophiamIsEngaged," refering to false rumors about One Direction.

The 1D member added his own comment saying "I think this is my favorite tweet ever ahahahaha."

Liam Payne and Sophia Smith started dating in 2013.