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He later defended those comments in a Telegraph article, insisting he had never been an "apologist" for President Putin, but added "if you poke the Russian bear with a stick, don't be surprised if he responds".

He added in a second video: “There’s gonna be people concerned and asking questions. At this time, just gonna keep a lot of things private and y’all just bear with me. But like I said, I need your prayers.”

"Please bear with us today as we're dealing with a high call volumes and will be prioritising main roads," it said.

Payne shared his seven-year-old son, Bear, with Girls Aloud star Cheryl, who he was in a relationship with from 2016 to 2018.

When the Polish forces were deployed to Europe the only way to take the bear with them was to "enlist" him.