Zayn Malik sent flirty messages to Chloe Goodman following his split from Perrie Edwards.
The 22-year-old heartthrob - who called off his engagement to the Little Mix singer last month - reportedly sent messages to the former 'Celebrity Big Brother' contestant on Twitter.
According to The Sun newspaper, he said: "Do you have a boyfriend at the mo?
"I don't want to step on anyone's toes (sic)."
Chloe - who is dating Scunthorpe United footballer Jordan Clarke - replied, saying: "Yeh I've got a boyfriend been with him a long time (sic)."
Zayn added: "If I hadn't asked I would have been rude."
The blonde beauty - who found fame on the MTV dating show 'Ex on the Beach' - is said to have been "shocked" by the former One Direction star's forwardness.
A source said: "Chloe was quite shocked by the messages. She knew Zayn had only just split from Perrie and couldn't believe he was already looking elsewhere."
And Chloe - who has been dating Jordan on and off for over a year - chose not to flirt back.
The insider added: "Chloe is with Jordan, so she was never going to have a fling with Zayn.
"She told him she had been with her boyfriend for a long time. He seemed to accept that, and told her if he hadn't asked he would have ended up being 'rude'.
"His intentions in messaging her were pretty obvious."