One Direction heartthrob Liam Payne has revealed why online abuse directed towards his girlfriend Sophia Smith affects him so much.

The international superstar went public with his romance last month, which left many One Direction fans reeling.

Payne admitted to fans that the nasty comments Sophia receives isn't fair and explained to his millions of followers that he sometimes searches her name to see what people are saying.

He wrote: ''I do it lots because I worry she might read it ... In the end she's just a girl like u sat reading Twitter on her phone. She doesn't deserve to sit and read all that - who does? (sic)''

When a fan feared the abuse had made Liam "hate" his fans, the star was quick to reassure her that he doesn't see everybody in the same light.

He replied: "I don't hate anyone babe :) well... Just strange horrid people aha (sic)."