Zayn Malik sparked huge excitement on his Instagram page as the reclusive singer shared a photo of him cosying up to a mystery blonde woman.
The former One Direction star, who rarely posts about his personal life or career these days, enjoyed a break from tradition as he shared a pic of himself with his arms wrapped around a lady with long blonde hair who kept her face concealed from the camera.
Little was known about Zayn's mystery partner bar her long locks and her neatly manicured nails, but it as enough to whip the Pillow Talk singer's followers into a frenzy.
Fans believed it could be the star 'soft-launching' a new romance following his split from Gigi Hadid.
Many went a step further and speculated they had worked out who the woman was all from the back of hair and some interestingly timed photos.
Former Disney starlet Selena Gomez's name soon became a key feature in the comments and fans guessed she was Zayn's crush.
The Fetish songstress posted photos from a similar time of herself with a blonde wig and red nails that matched Zayn's love interest sparking rumours it was her.
"Why do I feel like that’s selena," began one fan/
Another said: "This is just speculation but Selena was in Paris so was Zayn. WHEN SHE WAS THERE SHE WAS BLODNE WITH RED NAILS Selena is that you?"
"That’s definitely Selena Gomez," a third wrote.
As a fourth said: "Imagine if that’s selena," with another adding: "Seems like she's Selena."
However, one follower pointed out that the post may be to promote some new music and that the photo could be from a music video with an actress.
They said: "Guys the ONLY posts he has on his feed right now is about his new music. I’m sure this is part of the music video and she is an actress in it. Why would he only have music stuff, deleted everything else, and then say oh and let me post about a new girlfriend. Seems doubtful!"
As another thought the ring the girl is wearing might indicate it is Selena but others said it was a Gucci ring instead.
They said: "She is Selena guys look at his ring it say SG means Selena Gomez."
Meanwhile, Selena posted a series of snaps to a trip to Paris recently where she switched up her raven locks to blonde.
She captioned the post: "Thank you Paris for being a home to me for two months! I loved every moment. Working on this film has completely changed my life. I can’t wait to share more soon! Love you all."
Zayn has kept a tight lid on his love life after his on-off romance with Gigi Hadid hit the rocks.
The pair split for good in October 2021 just a year after welcoming their daughter Khai.
At the time it was speculated that Zayn had got into a row with Gigi's mum Yolanda Hadid and was accused of 'striking her.'
However, Zayn strongly denied these allegations.
He posted to social media at the time: "In an effort to protect that space for [Khai] I agreed not to contest claims arising from an argument I had with a family member of my partner’s who entered our home while my partner was away several weeks ago
Zayn said he remained “vigilant to protect Khai and give her the privacy she deserves.”
While Gigi spoke after the alleged incident to say she was happily co-parenting her daughter with the former boyband star.
“You have a long life alongside this person. That she can be with both parents makes me very happy,” she said.
