Neelam Gill fuels rumours that she was close with Zayn before his split with Perrie Edwards

ZAYN Malik‘s rumoured new love interest has fuelled rumours knew him before his split with Perrie Edwards.

Neelam Gill, who has reportedly been spending a lot of time with the former 1D star lately, gushed about Zayn all the way back in April.

In an interview that took place back in April, before Zayn split with Perrie, the model appeared to suggest that she already knew the star pretty well.

“Zayn’s a nice guy, I’m happy he’s being honoured tonight and I think it will be a great night,” Neelam told OnDemandNews before her appearance at The Asian Awards.

She also discussed his decision to leave One Direction just weeks beforehand.

“Honestly I really respect his decision,’ she said. ‘I can relate to him because we’ve both been thrown into the industry and I can only imagine how crazy it’s been for him. As long as he’s happy, I respect that.”

She added: “Whatever he does I’m sure he’ll be successful, he’s really talented and he’s a good guy.”

The Mail Online has claimed that Neelam and Zayn were close for months, even before his bitter break-up with heartbroken Little Mix star Perrie.

However, it’s thought that their friendship remained strictly platonic while Zayn was still in a relationship. We wonder what Perrie thinks of their rumoured-to-be heating up romance?

OK Magazine