Perrie Edwards, who is starring in the first episode of Alison Hammond’s Big Weekend tonight (May 16), has been vocal about the ups and downs in her relationship with footballer fiancé Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain.
The former Little Mix star, who is currently embarking on a solo career, has also since started a family with Alex, who is currently a midfielder for Süper Lig club Beşiktaş
But how did it all begin?
Perrie Edwards and fiance Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain met on dating app Raya
Back in 2016, rumours suggested Perrie had moved on from ex Zayn Malik with Alex. The headlines later proved to be true as they went Instagram official the following year.
During a 2024 interview on The Zach Sang Show, Perrie revealed the pair first met on the celebrity dating app Raya. However, it wasn’t Perrie herself who swiped right!
According to the Touch hitmaker, it was her friend who did, which later resulted in Perrie and Alex texting for a while before meeting for the first time.
Their first link-up was at a Cirque nightclub in London. Despite having initial hesitations, Perrie insisted it was “love at first sight”, stating her relationship with Alex was the first “healthy” boyfriend she’d ever had.
Perrie expected Alex to break up with her
As they began to grow closer, Perrie feared her and Alex would be over after her schedule with Little Mix meant she would be out of the country for a while. She and her three bandmates were set to embark on a three-month US tour with Ariana Grande, which resulted in Perrie expecting him to break up with her.
“I told him, ‘I completely understand if you don’t wanna wait for me, I’ll never hold it against you. I won’t judge you, and I get that because it’s gonna be hard. So I’ll go my way, you go yours, and then if we’re meant to be together, maybe we’ll meet again,'” she told EUPHORIA. last year.
Alex, however, didn’t mind and told her he’d be happy to wait for her. “He just looked at me and went, ‘Go do your own thing?! You’re my girlfriend!’ And I was like, ‘Wait, so is that you asking me to be your girlfriend?’”
Perrie admitted she was “fishing for it” but wasn’t pressuring Alex to settle down with her.
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Perrie and Alex welcome son, Axel
In May 2021, Perrie shocked fans when she and Alex were expecting their first child.
Taking to Instagram to announce the exciting news, she shared a snapshot of her and Alex while she showed off her growing bump.
“So happy to be on this wild journey with my soulmate. Me + Him = You,” she wrote. “We can’t wait to meet you baby Ox!”
By August, Perrie revealed she had given birth to her baby, but didn’t reveal the name until a few weeks later.
“2 weeks of loving you. I’ve never felt love like this before! Axel Oxlade-Chamberlain,” she said on Instagram.
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‘The love of my life got down on one knee’
Their relationship continued to blossom, as in June 2022, Alex proposed to Perrie.
“Last night the love of my life got down on one knee and I said… YES!” she revealed on Instagram.
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Perrie and Alex documented the wholesome moment where Alex popped the big question by the sea as the sun was setting.
However, their relationship began to turn heads when Perrie made a surprising confession about her and Alex’s living arrangements.
Perrie Edwards and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain have ‘never lived’ together
Despite raising a son and being engaged to each other, Perrie and Alex made headlines after Perrie stated she and Alex have “never lived” together.
She blamed Alex’s in-demand football schedule which forces him to be out of the country for months.
“I can’t lie, it is hard. When he was playing for Liverpool and based in Manchester, it was so easy to do the back and forth, but Turkey is a little bit further and he doesn’t get a lot of time off,” she admitted on The Jonathan Eoss Show last year.
“I’m trying to launch a solo career whilst having a two year old, so it is a lot to juggle. But we make it work for the ones we love, don’t we?” she added.
During her appearance on Alison’s Big Weekend show, the This Morning host joked Perrie had the “perfect relationship” because they “never see each other”.
‘I will hold a grudge for anything he might say’
In the same interview, Perrie declared she can be a “petty” partner.
“Full disclosure, me and my partner don’t argue. We’re very laid back and chilled. But at the same time, I can be a little bit of a petty [bleep],” she said.
Perrie continued: “I don’t know whether it’s my star sign – cancer. I’m very stubborn, I’m very emotional but not in the best way. I will hold a grudge for anything he might say. I just can’t help the way I am, I’m just like that. But we just started writing a song about it, and I just thought the lyrics were super relatable.”
In her interview with EUPHORIA., Perrie opened up about the song, which is now complete.
“It shows off how petty we can be with arguments,” she stated. “Like, I’ll send him texts without any kisses because he [bleep]ed me off. Or I’ll accuse him of distancing himself if he’s gone to play the PlayStation.”
Alison Hammond’s Big Weekend airs on BBC One tonight (May 16) at 8.30pm
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