It’s with a heavy heart and dramatically mixed feelings that we confirm that yes, Zayn Malik and Gigi Hadid have broken up. The ex-One Directioner and supermodel are officially single. Part ‘yay’, part ‘how sad, we were rooting for you two’.
After rumours spread yesterday afternoon, Zayn and Gigi each posted statements to Twitter confirming that they were no longer an item and the two separate announcements carried slightly different sentiments. In true Zayn form, there was an air of angst and low-key shade embedded in his few words, while Gigi opted for an optimistically philosophical approach.
‘Gigi and I had an incredibly meaningful, loving and fun relationship and I have a huge amount of respect and adoration for Gigi as a woman and as friend’, Zayn wrote. ‘She has such an incredible soul.’
‘I’m grateful to all of our fans for respecting this difficult decision and our privacy at this time, we wish this news could have come from us first. We love you all. xZ’, he added.
It is, of course, great to know that Zayn will continue to respect Gigi in her two roles as 'woman' and 'friend', as apparently these two tropes are in this case mutually exclusive sigh. The intentional shade thrown by Zayn, though, is clearly in the comment about 'privacy' and wanting to share the news himself which, to be fair, we totally understand.
We can't be sure when the pair officially broke things off, but Zayn has been in Miami working on the videos to songs from his upcoming album for the last few weeks and with Fashion Month only recently having come to an end, Gigi hasn't been around much either. Conflicting schedules seem to be the number one spark for high profile celebrity break ups, but will this one last? Well, Gigi has left us with an inkling of hope...
‘Breakup statements often seem impersonal because there is really no way to put into words what two people experience together over a few years .. not only in the relationship, but in life in general.’ she wrote in her relatively impersonal breakup statement that doesn't fully explain what she and Zayn experienced together over the last few years.
‘I’m forever grateful for the love, time, and life lessons that Z and I shared.' Gigi added. 'I want nothing but the best for him and will continue to support him as a friend that I have immense respect and love for.' Searching for some hidden meaning in the use of 'life lessons'? us too. It could mean a number of things, really. But our guess is that serious shit went down between the time Zayn went and got that tattoo of Gigi's eyes on his chest and now. Those inked eyes could definitely have been symbolic for Gigi watching over Zayn while the two were frequently separated. Heavy speculation? Yes. Possible scenario? We're going with it.
Gigi signed off the statement with the following: 'As for the future, whatever’s meant to be will always be. xG'. Profound, isn't it? But does it mean that Zayn ended things with her and that she's remaining hopeful for a reunited future once they've both got their shit together? Or perhaps it means that she ended things with Zayn and doesn't want it to sound *too *permanent. Or it could be the echo of her mother Yolanda's wisdom because admittedly, it definitely sounds like something your mum would say.
Not long after her daughter and Zayn tweeted their separation announcement, Yolanda posted a similarly toned quote to her Instagram feed. It read: 'The only way that we can live, is if we grow. The only way that we can grow is if we change. The only way that we can change is if we learn. The only way we can learn is if we are exposed. And the only way that we can become exposed is if we throw ourselves out into the open'.
And if by 'the open' she means back into the sea of singledom, then maybe she's pretty happy about her eldest daughter being relationship free now.
Zayn has since unfollowed both Gigi and Yolanda on Instagram in the accordance with post-public relationship protocol however, at time of writing Gigi still follows Zayn. Leaving the window of opportunity open to expose herself to the possibility of reuniting with her tattoo clad bae? Possibly. I imagine if Zayn had dumped her by text in the way he supposedly did to ex-fiance Perrie Edwards, the hopeful high road probably wouldn't have been taken.
READ MORE: A Timeline Of Zayn Malik’s Hair History
ZAYN hairstyles
1 of 262010
Back in 2010 when ZAYN appeared on The X Factor, the singer had classic black hair in a simple style.
2 of 262012
Two years later, ZAYN was still rocking his black hair but styled it into a quiff.
3 of 262012
Later in 2012, ZAYN went even further with the blond bleach, leading to this epic look.
4 of 262012
A few weeks later ZAYN experimented for the first time with bleach and coloured one streak of his fringe blond.
5 of 262013
In 2013 ZAYN rocked shorter black hair, accompanied with facial stubble.
6 of 262013
Later on in the year of 2013, ZAYN showed off a more grown up look with a thicker looking beard and dark locks.
7 of 262014
After letting his hair grow for the past year, ZAYN channeled his inner Justin Bieber with this hairstyle. Pictured here with his bandmate Louis Tomlinson.
8 of 262014
In the same month, ZAYN tidied up his longer locks and looked smart in November 2014.
9 of 262014
When One Direction attended the American Music Awards in December 2014, ZAYN showed off his brand new style.
10 of 262014
In the same month, ZAYN showed off yet another new hairstyle when he attended the NRJ Music Awards with this slicked back look.
11 of 262015
Pictured here with his mum, ZAYN changed his hairstyle dramatically in 2015 when he got a short buzz cut.
12 of 262015
Following on from his buzz cut, ZAYN decided to dye his short hair GREEN! ZAYN's ex-fiancé Perrie Edwards debuted the look on her Instagram page with this photo.
13 of 262015
It seems ZAYN wasn't a fan of his green hair as just a few weeks later he showed off his white blond buzz cut. Taking to Twitter ZAYN wrote, 'White hair'.
14 of 262015
With his hair growing slightly, ZAYN attended the Paris Fashion Week looking very handsome with his shorter looking hair.
15 of 262016
When the pink dye washed out, ZAYN was left with this light pink hair do.
16 of 262016
ZAYN debuted his bright pink quiff on Valentines Day in 2016. Aww!
17 of 262016
To celebrate the release of his debut solo track 'Pillowtalk' in 2016, ZAYN appeared in the music video rocking blond hair with his girlfriend Gigi Hadid.
18 of 262016
Come May and ZAYN had yet again shaved off his longer locks. The singer showed off his new cut when he appeared on the red carpet with Gigi at the Met Gala.
19 of 262016
In September 2017, ZAYN appeared at New York Fashion Week showing off a look we've never seen before! With dark hair and thick dark beard, fans loved the new look.
20 of 262016
By mid 2016, ZAYN's hair was slowly growing back, showing off this look on the red carpet.
21 of 262017
When 2017 landed, ZAYN showed off yet another new look! Gone was his dark beard, the singer instead opted for a clean shaven look with medium length hair.
22 of 262017
ZAYN returned to the blond side later in 2017 when he showed off a brand new bleach blond buzz cut.
23 of 262017
ZAYN's latest look totally shocked fans! The 'Dusk Till Dawn' singer shaved off ALL of his hair in August and later admitted he had to as the bleach had ruined it.
24 of 262017
After his dramatic skinhead, ZAYN debuted this look in September 2017.
25 of 262018
Following his break-up with Gigi Hadid, Zayn debuted this very blond hair and beard combination!
26 of 262018
In June 2018 Zayn dyed his hair lavender and fans thought it meant there was romance in the air between him and Gigi Hadid.
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This article originally appeared on The Debrief.