What Is the Status of the Reported Relationship Between Zayn Malik and Selena Gomez?

Rumours of a potential relationship between musician Zayn Malik and singer and actress Selena Gomez have been doing the rounds after the two were reportedly spotted on a date in New York City last week.

The rumours began after a TikTok video posted by @klarissa.mpeg said the two had been seen together on the 23rd of March. The video went viral, with the user claiming to be a hostess at a restaurant in New York City.

A TikToker posted a video claiming to have proof that Selena Gomez and Zayn Malik were seen holding hands and making out in an unnamed New York City restaurant. The TikToker, who is a hostess at the restaurant, shared screenshots of alleged WhatsApp messages sent to her by another employee at the restaurant saying that they had escorted Gomez and Malik to their table. The name of the restaurant was blurred out in the clip, but the sender of the messages said that they had seen the former One Direction member and the Only Murders in the Building star together, holding hands and "making out".

DeuxMoi, an Instagram page that reports on celebrity gossip, initially played down the reports, posting to their Instagram Story that they were unable to verify the story independently. They concluded with a shrugging emoji, clarifying that usually when Selena Gomez is spotted in New York City anonymous people write in to let them know, but as Zayn Malik resides in Pennsylvania, the report appeared unlikely.

An eyewitness informed Entertainment Tonight that Gomez and Malik were spotted out in SoHo in New York City, where they were apparently holding hands and kissing. The source said that the couple appeared to be comfortable with each other and it was evidently a date. Most people present were unaware of their identity.

This isn't the first time that Gomez, who stars in Spring Breakers, and Malik, the singer of "Pillow Talk," have been romantically linked. This was implied by DeuxMoi when they responded to recent Malik and Gomez rumors with a screenshot of a message from a follower. The message read: "Maybe I'm wrong, but didn't JB tweet a few years ago about Selena cheating on him with Zayn?"

Gomez and her ex-boyfriend Justin Bieber were in a highly-publicized on-and-off relationship when they were teenagers. During one of their off periods in 2016, the two reportedly had a war of words on Instagram, with Gomez accusing Biebs of cheating multiple times during their relationship. Bieber, who is now married to Hailey Baldwin, seemed to reply, "I cheated.. oh I forgot about You and Zayn?

At the time Bieber reportedly accused Malik of romance, the latter was dating supermodel Gigi Hadid. The two had an on-and-off relationship for seven years and share a 2-year-old daughter, Khai.
Though they split up earlier this year, sources close to the former couple revealed that Hadid is "fine with whoever he goes out with" as long as Malik is happy and staying amicable in their co-parenting.
This news follows speculation about Malik's new relationship with Selena Gomez, who Bieber accused him of being involved with at the time.