Zara McDermott appears to stifle her broad smile when she was pictured arriving back in the UK after spending time in Malibu with her new man, One Direction star Louis Tomlinson. Zara, 28, who split with I’m A Celebrity winner Sam Thompson back in December last year, looked as though she had a bounce in her step.
And it’s perhaps it’s clear to see why as she has been growing close to the globally renowned singer over recent weeks.
Immediately after she arrived in the UK, the former Strictly Come Dancing star took to social media to share with fans her joy at finally having her Gail’s coffee.
But judging by these pictures, it look as though Zara treated herself to more than just a coffee from her favourite bakery.
Dressed casually in a white t-shirt and matching tracksuit top under a denim jacket, Zara looked every inch travel chic.
With her hair tied up in messy bun, Zara showed off her long slender legs in a pair of black leggings and completed her look with a pair of white trainers.
Her arrival back into the UK comes after Zara was pictured sharing a passionate kiss with Louis as they stood outside his sprawling property in the affluent area of Malibu.
Just before the couple kissed, Louis was pictured lovingly pulling Zara in close to him before leaning in for a smooch. In another moment, the pair were spotted holding hands as they did their best to avoid the cameras.
Zara had been dating Sam since 2019 until they mutually decided to go their separate ways in December last year. During their five year relationship which saw its fair share of ups and downs, the couple lived together at Sam’s London pad and they were also paw parents to two cats.
But fans started to notice they had hit a huge stumbling block when they spent Christmas and New Year apart from each other.
In January this year, Sam appeared to do his best to mask his pain over the breakdown of his relationship as he posted a motivational video on social media.
Taking to Instagram, Sam said: “Good morning for us all incoming.” He went on to declare: “But I feel you’re going to have a really good day. You’re going to have a really good week – and I’m never wrong.”
He went on to say: “Lets have it! And there is a new episode of Stayin’ Relevant out, so check that out. Pete’s in a good mood for this one.”
However, despite his happy go lucky demeanour, sources close to the reality TV star revealed that he was left “blindsided” and devastated over the speed in which Zara moved on.
A source told The Sun last month: “Sam is obviously devastated by the news, he was with Zara for years and the break-up has hit him hard. He’s taking some time out to focus on himself – it’s completely blindsided and embarrassed him.”
They added: “He didn’t expect Zara to move on so quickly and he’s still dealing with the aftermath of the split. He’s not found the split easy and has been trying to keep busy and take his mind off it by focusing on work, friends and family. But everyone can see that he’s struggling and just needs to take some time out to reassess things.”
Thankfully for Sam, he has been surrounded by a close circle of family and friends, including Staying Relevant co-host Pete Wicks.
The source claimed that Sam is determined to put the relationship behind him and move on to focus on future work projects.
One thing he has been focusing on is the live tour of his podcast at the O2.
Like this story? For more of the latest showbiz news and gossip, follow Mirror Celebs on TikTok, Snapchat, Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, YouTube and Threads.
At Reach and across our entities we and our partners use information collected through cookies and other identifiers from your device to improve experience on our site, analyse how it is used and to show personalised advertising. You can opt out of the sale or sharing of your data, at any time clicking the “Do Not Sell or Share my Data” button at the bottom of the webpage. Please note that your preferences are browser specific. Use of our website and any of our services represents your acceptance of the use of cookies and consent to the practices described in our Privacy Notice and Cookie Notice.