Selena Gomez and Zayn Malik’s supposed PDA-filled dinner date didn’t come as a surprise to those who knew them—because the couple has hung out in the past.
The singers’ first reunion took place “so long ago” the day Gomez’s best friend Taylor Swift was dating Malik’s former One Direction bandmate Harry Styles, Page Six told.
Swift, now 33, and Styles, now 29, met in the fall of 2012 and were photographed for the first time that December.
They quit the job the following month.
But it seems like their brief fling was enough to prompt Gomez and Malik to try their hand at romance, as one leading music industry source tells us: “Years ago, Taylor and Harry had a thing when they were dating.”
An insider continues, “It wouldn’t surprise me at all that they were potentially together. [today]”
The hostess of a celebrity-favourite restaurant in Soho sparked a stir online when she said she witnessed Gomez and Malik, both 30 years old, clench their lips at work earlier this month.
Klarissa Garcia, a friend of the stewardess, who made a TikTok video about the alleged encounter, told Page Six on Friday: “No one noticed them. [in the restaurant]
“It was pretty public, but… in New York, nobody really cares about celebrities.”
Despite being relatively private people, Gomez and Malik didn’t seem to mind taking things lightly.
They were said to be kissing openly at their tables in the middle of the crowded restaurant.
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Garcia’s TikTok added a screenshot of her conversation with her hostess friend, who claimed in text messages to “Tell me how Selena Gomez and Zayne are”. [sic] I just entered [blurred out restaurant] I sat them down while they were making love hand in hand.”
Rumors of love between the couple started swirling before their alleged NYC date night, as Malik, who only follows 18 people on Instagram, is one of Gomez’s 403 million followers.
One Direction previously dated Gigi Hadid, who dumped him in October 2021 after she was accused of hitting her mother, Yolanda Hadid, during an explosive argument.
Malik has denied the allegations and remains mainly out of the public eye, while continuing to co-parent his 2-year-old daughter, Khai, with Hadid.
Gomez, for her part, has dated a number of famous men throughout her career, but most famously, she was in an on-again, off-again relationship with Justin Bieber for eight years before marrying his wife, Hailey.
Last week, the “Only Murders in the Building” star asked her fans to stop sending death threats to the 26-year-old model over years of feuding on social media.
Gomez and Malik’s representatives did not immediately respond to Page Six’s request for comment.