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See Gigi Hadid Twin With Her “Lil Bestie” Daughter Khai in Rare Update
At one point, Zayn Malik loved to hold ex Gigi Hadid close—but there’s a reason they didn’t make it past the pillow talk.
Nearly five years after the One Direction alum and his ex went their separate ways, he clarified that though they dated on and off for five years, he doesn’t believe he made it past infatuation.
“To be fair, just to have this on the record, I will always love G, because she is the reason my child is on this Earth and I have the utmost respect for her,” Zayn—who shares daughter Khai, 5, with Gigi—said during a Feb. 11 appearance on Call Her Daddy. “I will always love her, but I don’t know if I was in love with her.”
But while he doesn’t know if he ever really fell for the supermodel—to whom he was first linked in 2016—Zayn reiterated, “I do love her a crazy amount, but no, I don’t think I was in love with her at that point.”
As he reasoned, “Otherwise I would have been a better version of myself.”
However, at the time, Zayn, 33, shared that he did believe his feelings for Gigi—who has been dating Bradley Cooper since 2023—were deeper than he sees it now.
“My understanding of love is always developing,” Zayn explained. “At that moment in time, I might have thought it was love, but as I got older I realized maybe it wasn’t. Maybe it was lust. Maybe it was this, maybe it was that. I don’t feel like it was love.”
Indeed, Zayn—who also had a high profile romance with Little Mix singer Perrie Edwards from 2012 to 2015—has now explored what life is like as a single adult, and he admitted, “I don’t find being alone scary.”
“No disrespect to all the past relationships I’ve been in,” Zayn shared. “No disrespect at all, it was freeing. I am that type of person who runs on my own clock, answers to myself. So, it was so freeing to me. I could just do things, make plans. Sleep until any time I want.”
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And the “Die For Me” singer emphasized he’s had a lot to learn during this time on his own, too.
“I tended to get in trouble in relationships, ‘cause I was young, did certain things, spoke to other females when I shouldn’t have been,” he admitted. “You live and learn from it, but this way, there’s no guilt.”
For more singers who have opened up on their romances, keep reading…
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Selena Gomez and Benny Blanco
The "Lose You to Love Me" singer debuted her romance with the music producer in December 2023, writing in an Instagram comment, "He is my absolute everything in my heart."
Selena—who previously dated Justin Bieber and The Weeknd—has known Benny for at least eight years, as they worked together on her 2015 Revival tracks "Same Old Love" and "Kill Em With Kindness."
They got engaged in December 2024, and exchanged vows in September 2025.
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Ashanti and Nelly
The "Body on Me" collaborators dated on and off between 2003 and 2013, then rekindled their romance in 2023. They tied the knot in a private December 2023 wedding ceremony, with Ashanti giving birth to the couple's first baby in July 2024.
Brian Feinzimer/Variety via Getty Images
Nick Jonas and Priyanka Chopra
The pair tied the knot in December 2018 and later welcomed daughter Malti Marie in January 2022.
"Family is a big part of my life. It's always been a part of my dreams," Priyanka told E! News' Daily Pop in January 2021, with Nick adding the next month, "We're blessed to have each other and have a full heart for the future."
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Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce
The Grammy winner saw sparks fly with the Kansas City Chiefs football player during the cruel summer of 2023.
“This all started when Travis very adorably put me on blast on his podcast, which I thought was metal as hell,” she told TIME in December 2023. “We started hanging out right after that. So we actually had a significant amount of time that no one knew, which I’m grateful for, because we got to get to know each other. By the time I went to that first game, we were a couple. I think some people think that they saw our first date at that game? We would never be psychotic enough to hard launch a first date.”
Travis proposed to the "Enchanted" singer in August 2025 in the former's backyard.
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Miley Cyrus and Maxx Morando
The Hannah Montana alum has been getting flowers from the Liily drummer since 2021.
"It's official between them," a source told E! News in January 2022, with a second insider adding, "They are both artistic and creative, so they bond over being musicians."
Samir Hussein/WireImage; David M. Benett/Jed Cullen/Dave Benett/Getty Images
Harry Styles and Taylor Russell
The One Direction alum seemingly kicked off his golden romance with the Bones and All actress in 2023 following his split from Olivia Wilde. Harry and Taylor were spotted holding hands in London in September 2023, and he attended her final West End performance in The Effect the following month.
The pair reportedly called it quits in May after less than a year of dating. Harry sparked romance rumors with Zoë Kravitz in September 2025 after they stepped out together several times in recent weeks.
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Beyoncé and Jay-Z
The music legends tied the knot on April 4, 2008 and went on to welcome daughter Blue Ivy on January 7, 2012 and twins Rumi and Sir on June 13, 2017.
"I was 20 years old when we first started dating," Bey told Jay-Z on his birthday in 2006. "You taught me how to be a woman. You taught me how to live. You taught me how to be a friend. You've given me so much in life."
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Adele and Rich Paul
The singer said hello to a new romance when she reconnected with the sports agent in 2021. Later that year, she praised him as "hilarious" and "very smart" during her CBS special, noting, "It's quite incredible watching him do what he does and just the easiness of it and very smooth."
As Adele told The Hollywood Reporter in December 2023, "Rich and I have always known everything about each other since the day we got together."
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Ariana Grande and Ethan Slater
After news broke of Ariana's split with husband Dalton Gomez in July 2023, she said "thank u, next" and started a relationship with her Wicked costar, who officially filed for divorce from his wife Lilly Jay in September 2023.
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Demi Lovato and Jutes
The couple met while working on her 2022 single "Substance" and she debuted her romance with the "Too Easy" artist in August 2022.
They got engaged in December 2023 and made it official in May 2025.
"We worked really well together and we're also just super in love," the Disney alum said on The Jennifer Hudson Show shortly after her engagement. "It's amazing to find someone that you just laugh with and that you get to make music with."
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A$AP Rocky and Rihanna
They found love after first meeting over a decade ago. The singers performed "Cockiness" at the 2012 MTV Video Music Awards and grew closer over the years. Things seemed to turn romantic by 2018, when they cozied up at a Louis Vuitton fashion show.
The couple welcomed son RZA in May 2022 and baby boy Riot Rose in August 2023, followed by daughter Rocki Irish in September 2025.
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Jennifer Lopez and Ben Affleck
Her love didn't cost a thing—except 20 years' wait. Though they originally got engaged in November 2002, Ben and J.Lo ultimately broke up and spent years apart. Their rekindled romance took off, with a second engagement in April 2022 and tied the knot just three months later.
However, the greatest love story never told ended in August 2024, when Jennifer filed for divorce. Their divorce was settled in January 2025.
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