Celebrity Big Brother’s Stephanie Davis has claimed she was the one to dump Zayn Malik when they dated several years ago.
Even at the time, he was not happy in One Direction – according to the former Hollyoaks star who has been at the centre of this year’s Big Brother drama.
Stephanie in the diary room (Channel 5)
“He weren’t happy, even when I was going out with him,” she said. “I can’t believe he stuck it out for that long.”
Zayn has since quit the band and released his first solo single, Pillowtalk.
Zayn Malik (Kevin Achman)
The unlikely couple dated for a few months several years ago. And when they split up, Stephanie said she had to change her number to shake him off.
The Celebrity Big Brother housemates were deep in discussion about their secret crushes and past relationships.
John and Stephanie in the CBB house (Channel 5)
According to the BBC, Steph said: “I ended it with him because at the time I was oblivious to that world.
“And then I was out with the girls in town and he was calling me, calling me. I changed my number.
“I still speak to Danny, his best mate. And that was that – I literally didn’t speak to him again.”
Zayn Malik, right, in 2010 with One Direction (Anna Gowthorpe/PA)
Stephanie, 22, explained that she was in the canteen at Lime Pictures, where the Channel 4 soap is filmed, when they first had a chat – and that Zayn then asked her out through bandmate Niall Horan.
“He said, ‘I’m coming to Leeds this week. Would you meet up with us?’ I was like, ‘Yeah, but I don’t drive so my mum will have to drop us off,’” she said. “And he was like, ‘Sound’.
“And I think we spent three hours on the phone that first conversation. We carried on talking and then we said goodbye.
Stephanie Davis (Channel 5)
“About 10 minutes later he called me back. He said, ‘I’ve never met you, but I love talking to you’.”
But it was the pressures of fame and the limelight which caused their relationship to sour, she said.
“We became boyfriend and girlfriend,” she claimed. “Then he started going downhill a bit and then it got really bad.
“If we wanted to go and get some food we’d have to wait until four in the morning.
Stephanie Davis in 2011 (Mark Allan/AP)
“Even if we went to Asda, there’d be girls and he was getting so angry with the situation. It’s like being in here, but all the time.”
Merseyside-born Stephanie is known for playing Sinead O’Connor in the Channel 4 soap opera from 2010 to 2015 before having her contract terminated.
In the Big Brother house, she has courted controversy by starting a romance with fellow contestant Jeremy McConnell – despite being in a relationship with the model Sam Reece.
CBB’s Stephanie and Jeremy (Channel 5)
