Liam Payne, Cheryl Cole To Welcome Baby Soon? 'X Factor' Judge Shows Off Huge Baby Bump In Sexy Black Dress [PHOTO]

Cheryl Cole and Liam Payne are set to welcome their first child soon. The “X Factor U.K.” judge finally came public with her pregnancy when she revealed her growing baby bump in a new photo.

The Mirror U.K. published a publicity photo for L’Oreal Paris’ partnership with The Prince’s trust showing Cole, 33, in a figure-hugging, longsleeve black dress. In the snapshot, the singer stands in profile to show off her pregnant belly. While neither Cole and her younger beau have publicly talked about the pregnancy, Cole proudly showing off her bump appears to be their way of confirming the news. Check out the photo of Cole below!

Rumors that Cole is pregnant with the baby of her One Direction singer boyfriend, 23, first surfaced last year. Cole was spotted buying pregnancy products back in September. While running errands, she reportedly wore maternity-inspired clothing such as sweater dresses and oversized coats, which sparked speculation that she was already hiding a baby bump.

This was further fueled when, in November, Cole and Payne were photographed attending the Fayre of St. James’ charity Christmas concert in London, England together. In the photos obtained by Entertainment Tonight, Cole wore a tight olive green dress, leather boots and a long black coat, which couldn’t hide her already obvious baby bump.

At the time, Payne, who wore a black jacket, turtleneck and jeans for the event, reportedly acted very protective of Cole. A source told E! News back in November that the singer was attentive to Cole and walked “behind Cheryl at some points with his hand on her back.”

Meanwhile, in December, Payne had been asked by fans about whether or not he and his girlfriend were expecting when he participated in an #AskLiam Twitter Q&A. The 1D member didn’t confirm the news and avoided talking about it at the time. But when a fan asked him if he was happy, he did say that he was “the happiest [he] could be.”

Cole first met the One Direction member when the latter auditioned for “The X Factor U.K.” back in 2008. The two started dating in February 2016, but the couple only went public with their relationship three months later at a charity gala.