Zara McDermott is ‘so happy’ in her new romance with Louis Tomlinson, can reveal.
Friends of the TV personality say she’s relieved the relationship is now out in the open after dating in secret weeks.
Zara has already got the seal of approval from Louis’ twin sisters Phoebe and Daisy, plus influencer sister Lottie, who all follow the documentary-maker on Instagram, and she’s excited about what the future holds for the pair.
The couple’s romance was exposed on Monday when a fellow diner at The Suffolk in Aldburgh took snaps of Zara, 28, and Louis, 33, enjoying a romantic date.
The pictures confirmed rumours of a relationship first detected by sleuth-like One Direction fans who noticed Louis had followed Zara on Instagram and liked a string of her pictures.
According to Zara’s friends, Louis has put ‘a smile back on her face’ following her split from ex boyfriend of five years Sam Thompson, 32, on New Year’s Day.
Zara McDermott is ‘so happy’ in her new romance with Louis Tomlinson, can reveal
Friends of the TV personality say she’s relieved the relationship is now out in the open after dating in secret weeks (Louis pictured two weeks ago)
A friend told : ‘Zara is so happy, it’s early days with her and Louis but everything is going well between them.
‘News of their romance leaked sooner than they intended – the plan was to keep things private for as long as possible. They still hope to keep intimate details away from prying eyes.
‘Zara is enjoying being wined and dined and experiencing the thrill of dating someone new again.
‘She had been with Sam for years and in the end their relationship became transactional… they had lost their sparkle. Louis has certainly put a smile back on her face.’
Zara and Louis tucked into £100 fish and chips, plus cocktails, at the £315-a-night hotel in Suffolk.
The pair stayed at night and left for their respective London homes in the morning.
revealed in January Zara had split from longterm partner Sam after five years of dating.
They lived together in Sam’s Fulham house which was usually the base of the couple’s amusing TikTok videos.
According to Zara’s friends, Louis has put ‘a smile back on her face’ following her split from ex boyfriend of five years Sam Thompson , 32, on New Year’s Day (pictured in March 2024)
A friend told : ‘Zara is so happy, it’s early days with her and Louis but everything is going well between them’
They added: ‘She had been with Sam for years and in the end their relationship became transactional… they had lost their sparkle. Louis has certainly put a smile back on her face’
Despite being ‘upset’ and ‘sad’ Zara has moved on so quickly, Sam bares no hard feelings towards Louis for dating his former partner.
The pair could face an awkward encounter in June for Soccer Aid as they both feature in the England squad to the charity match against a Rest of the World side.
However, despite’s Sam grievances Zara has moved on quickly, according to insiders, he’s trying to be positive.
A source close to Sam told : ‘Sam has no hard feelings towards Louis, that’s for sure.
‘As far as he’s concerned, Louis is Zara’s new man and he’s just got to accept it.
‘He’s a positive guy and will just move on from this, throwing himself into work and getting stuck into the exciting projects he’s got coming up.
‘Obviously he was sad when their relationship broke up and, like anyone, when your ex moves so quickly it’s tough.
‘And if he was both angry and devastated, that would be understandable. But he’s not sitting around wallowing in self pity, far from it.’
Sam has yet to comment since Zara’s new romance was made public.
However he did appear to take a cryptic dig at Zara regarding the speed at which she has moved on post breakup, making a comment that ‘people look for validation in others to fill that hole,’ which is something he can’t do.
Speaking with friend and Celebs Go Dating coach Paul Brunson on the latest episode of his podcast Staying Relevant, Paul asked Sam ‘What are you doing Sam to self-love?’
Getting candid Sam confessed he isn’t even thinking about dating again as he replied: ‘Not much to be honest with you.
‘I suppose a lot of people look for validation in other people right? And they look for the next person instantly because it’s like “I need to find someone else to fill that hole and I need to find that excitement”.’
‘You know when you get that excited feeling when you are talking to someone new and fresh. I can’t do that.’
One Direction star Louis has experienced a tough few months following the tragic death of his bandmate Liam Payne in October.
Louis joined fellow bandmembers Harry Styles, Niall Horan and Zayn Malik at Liam’s funeral the following month.
A source close to Sam told : ‘Sam has no hard feelings towards Louis, that’s for sure. As far as he’s concerned, Louis is Zara’s new man and he’s just got to accept it’ (Louis in 2023)
The star has also mourned the passing of both his sister Felicite aged 18 in 2019 from a drug overdose and his mum Johannah in 2016, who lost a battle with leukaemia.
The star’s previous notable relationship was with American actress Diane Campbell which ended after 12 months in 2016.
He briefly rekindled his romance with Eleanor in 2018, three years after they first split, telling The Sun: ‘If you’re asking me if I’m going to marry her? Yes, I think so! And more kids, I’d say so.’
However, the romance fizzled out in 2022 as the singer’s tour put too much pressure on their relationship.
In 2023 he was linked with Danish model Sofie Nyvang but the pair never made their romance official.