LOS ANGELES • Former One Direction member Zayn Malik and American model Gigi Hadid are officially an item, putting an end to months of speculation over their relationship.

Over the weekend, Malik shared a lovey-dovey photo of the couple on his Instagram account, @zayn. The black-and-white photo shows the 20-year-old model cradling Malik's face while he leans back, eyes closed.

Rumours about his love life had been rife since the 22-year-old posted a photo of himself cuddling a mystery woman on his Instagram account last September.

He broke off his two-year engagement to Little Mix singer Perrie Edwards in August, reportedly via text message. Hadid split with American singer Joe Jonas last month and, soon after, Jonas unfollowed both her and Malik's social media accounts.

She and Malik were first linked last month after being photographed together at an after-party for the American Music Awards. They had been sighted out together since then.

But, according to E! Online, her friends do not understand the attraction between them. An insider said: "He is not her usual type, he doesn't share her sense of humour or ease with people (and) he's a little more self-aware and awkward."

They reportedly met at reality television star and model Kylie Jenner's 18th birthday party in August when Hadid was still seeing Jonas.

They are both not new in tabloid headlines.

Hadid, whose sister Bella is also a model, appeared on the reality TV show The Real Housewives Of Beverly Hills. She is friends with another gossip-blog mainstay, model Kendall Jenner, of reality show Keeping Up With The Kardashians fame. She also hit the runway at the Victoria's Secret Fashion Show for the first time last month, along with Kendall.

Malik famously shocked fans last March when he quit the best- selling pop band One Direction, saying he wanted to live a normal life. He later signed a solo record deal with RCA Records.