Liam Payne has revealed his cheeky son Bear pretended to have Covid so he could "get the day off school".
The former One Direction star, 28, made the revelation during an Instagram Live.
He explained the four-year-old - who he shares with ex-girlfriend 38-year-old Cheryl - is "quite smart".
The star gave a rare insight into family life with his only child, telling fans the hilarious story.
Liam explained: "He went to school the other day and he didn't want to go, and I think he learned that if you have Covid you don't have to go to school, which is quite sneaky but also quite smart."
The Strip That Down hitmaker continued: "He figured out if he pretended to say, 'I've got the virus' then he would get the day off school.
"Apparently it went so far as to him telling the teacher... I didn't even know what a virus was when I was four, sneaky."
The singer added he did give the tot a "telling off" for his little lie.
"He did get a telling off for it, but I kind of have to give him props for it as well, because my pretending to get off school when I was a kid was not that extravagant," Liam laughed.
"I'm not proud of him in a way, but I'm happy with the level of deviousness, childish deviousness."
Liam and Cheryl welcomed their son in 2017 and later split in 2018.
The former couple have co-parented Bear since they broke up, but the youngster's life has remained relatively private.
In recent weeks, Liam told another anecdote about his young son, which involved him, Cheryl, Bear and a chicken.
On The One Show, he said: "I went to Cheryl's the next week to see Bear.
"She was like 'Oh they had a chicken bought in [at school]'"
"Can you guess what the name of the chicken that was brought to see my son?" Liam asked the BBC presenters.
"The chicken was called Nugget" he revealed, with hosts Gethin and Samantha taken aback with the answer.
"That's harsh," Samantha exclaimed.
"Luckily he didn't click which I though was great," the dad-of-one continued with his story.
"But that was a bit on the edge, wasn't it?"
