Louis Tomlinson's dating timeline: ex-One Direction star's romance with Zara McDermott 'confirmed'

Zara McDermott has been spotted in public for the first time with Louis Tomlinson after their surprising romance was confirmed.

The Daily Mail has published a photo of the Love Island star, 28, and the singer, 33, together — several weeks after rumours first surfaced of a romance following her split from Sam Thompson last Christmas.

The photo showed the pair holding hands as they headed to a lunch date at Soho Beach House in Malibu on Tuesday. Previous rumours of their romance were largely based on hearsay and a possible sighting at a Suffolk restaurant in March.

Earlier this week, McDermott’s fans were convinced a subtle photo she shared hinted at a blossoming romance.

The Instagram photo showed only a dining table, but a distinctive tattoo on Tomlinson’s wrist gave the game away.

Both had attended the same Stereophonics concert in Los Angeles last Wednesday, sharing Instagram stories of the gig.

Since rising to fame with One Direction in 2011, Tomlinson has been linked to several women.

Here’s a look at his dating timeline.

Read more: Louis Tomlinson on class, talent and the price of fame: ‘I am a chav — I don’t think it’s a bad word’

Some 1D fans are reportedly obsessed with the idea that Tomlinson has a longstanding romantic involvement with former bandmate Harry Styles.

While this is untrue, or so they claim, we can confirm that Tomlinson has been romantically linked to the following:

Tomlinson’s longest and most significant relationship came in two parts with Eleanor Calder, a Manchester-born model and former politics student whom he met through Harry Styles.

The pair initially dated from 2011 but People reported they split in 2015 due to the challenges of maintaining a relationship while Tomlinson was on tour.

Calder, who had 3.3 million followers on Instagram at the time of writing, reportedly reunited with Tomlinson. However, the Sun reported they broke up again due to their busy schedules.

After his split with Calder, Tomlinson had a brief relationship with US stylist Briana Jungwirth, which resulted in the pair having a child together.

The BBC reported that they were “really good friends”, suggesting their romance was short-lived.

Following his split with Calder, Tomlinson dated American actress Danielle Campbell for a year.

They reportedly broke up shortly after his mother passed away in 2016, according to the Sun.

It can now be confirmed that Love Island star McDermott and Tomlinson are an item after the pair were seen together on dates in April.

Rumours had begun in March with the possible sighting of the two together in a Suffolk restaurant.