Liam Payne and Rita Ora cosy up in Cannes as he moves on from ex Naomi Campbell

Liam Payne and Rita Ora first caused a stir with their saucy Fifty Shades duet and have remained firm friends ever since.

They were spotted looking cosy at the Annual Filmmakers Dinner in Cannes hosted by businessman Charles Finch, British Vogue editor Edward Enninful and fashion designer Michael Kors, on Friday night.

Rita looked stunning in a black feathered Michael Kors dress, with her platinum blonde locks teased in an updo, while Liam looked dapper in a black three-piece tuxedo sans bowtie.

Liam will be hoping to avoid his ex Naomi Campbell who is a regular attendee of Cannes Film Festival, however she was nowhere to be seen.

Rita Ora and Liam Payne were seen getting cosy at a Cannes party ((Credit too long, see caption))

The pair are both recently single after splitting from their other halves ((Credit too long, see caption))

The famous pals were also spotted dining together earlier in the week at Annabel's in Mayfair before jetting to the south of France.

Rita was heavily rumoured to be part of the reason Liam split with his then girlfriend and mother of his son, Cheryl, in February, after they released their duet in January 2018.

Naomi Campbell ends whirlwind romance with One Direction lover Liam Payne

Rita looked incredible in a feathered black gown ((Credit too long, see caption))

The pair put on several steamy performances for their single (Mike Raison)

However the pair firmly denied the gossip, yet were later that year caught on camera last "grinding" on each other and getting close.

Rita and Liam have insisted they are just friends, with the How We Do singer saying that she 'never meant to cause trouble' between him and Cheryl.

Ahead of their split Rita remained silent later saying on The Tonight Show With Jimmy Fallon in the US: "Just imagine being the person in that situation.

Liam Payne dines out with supermodel Stella Maxwell after Naomi Campbell split

Liam and Rita have remained firm friends since recording a duet together (Doug Peters/EMPICS Entertainment)

Cheryl hints Liam Payne split up with HER – but says she's 'okay with it'

"I obviously tried to respect Cheryl and everything that was going down at the time.

"I was very professional, as was Liam, and I completely stayed out of it. We had one goal — to promote the single, and we did just that."

Both Rita and Naomi Campbell ends whirlwind romance with One Direction lover Liam Payne after splitting from their respective other halves so they'll have plenty to catch up on.

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