Liam Payne has discussed marriage with beau Sophia Smith.

The 22-year-old singer is set to break the hearts of One Direction fans as he has opened up about settling down with Sophia, 21, but he is not quite ready to enter the next chapter of his life as he thinks they are too ''young'' to get hitched just yet and he hopes that if they do tie the knot the brunette beauty won't be a ''stay-at-home'' partner.

He said: ''We have talked about marriage, but 22 seems a bit young for us.

''Sophia needs to go off and do what she wants to do. I don't want her to be one of those stay-at-home girlfriends who doesn't really do much.''

Meanwhile, the 1D star also admitted to struggling with being away from home while touring with his bandmates - Harry Styles, Niall Horan, Louis Tomlinson - and going off the rails slightly, but now he is more ''focused'' and positive about the future.

Speaking to Attitude magazine, he said: ''I'm not afraid to say that I went through a pretty bad [drinking] stage. And for that time in my life, it was perfect for me. I mean, you're away from home, and that can get hard.

''Also, there were a lot of things on my mind and that's what helped me through. Now I'm a lot more focused and I feel good to be out of that zone and be more concentrated.

''There were just a few times that I went over the limit with things, then I had to pull it back.''