Zayn Malik Breaks Silence Re Perrie Edward Split

They were engaged. They bought a house together. They seemed happy in the wake of his departure from One Direction. And then it all ended - reportedly via a text message - a rumour which Malik now denies via an latest interview with Fader Magazine.

Speaking for the first time since the split four months ago, the 22-year-old said: "I love her a lot, and I always will, and I would never end our relationship over four years like that. She knows that, I know that, and the public should know as well." He wasn't too willing, however, to expand on why they split, adding: "I don’t want to explain why or what I did, I just want the public to know I didn’t do that."

Addressing his split with One Direction, Zayn wasn't so diplomatic, saying he was sick of sounding "generic as f*ck."

Zayn and Perrie first met on the set of X Factor back in 2012, and got engaged a year later. He reportedly ended their relationship a matter of weeks before they were set to move into their £3 million mansion together. Since the split, he's been linked to a number of people, including this blonde lady everyone thought was Gage Golightly...

He's also been linked with Burberry Model Neelam Gill...

And - most recently - he was spotted leaving Nobu with Hollyoaks' Wallis Day.

Perrie, meanwhile, has been promoting her new single 'Hair' alongside her Little Mix bandmates. Funnily enough, it's about telling an ex where to go. Speaking of an unnamed ex which inspired the track, Perrie said in a recent interview: "He was just a b*ll-end and I knew it."

We usually do.