And that’s the tea, kids. Former One Direction star Niall Horan set the record straight about the romance rumors between him and close friend Selena Gomez — and unfortunately for us, it seems as though there isn’t much truth to the talk. Considering we were all about this ship, bummed is an understatement.
“Do I have a girlfriend? I don’t, no” he said during an episode of Australia’s Hit 90.9’s Brekkie Crew podcast on December 3. “I’m very much single. Very much single.”
There you have it, folks! Fans and followers have been curious about the true nature of the pop pair’s friendship since 2015, but the 26-year-old and the brunette beauty have been mostly tight-lipped about their connection. They got the world wondering four years ago, when they were reportedly spotted making out at dancer Jenna Dewan‘s 35th birthday party. They had already been friends for three years at that point, but denied anything more.
More recently, a group photo from a dinner with friends surfaced on the internet back in October — and Niall had his arm around the 27-year-old. But he did shut down the speculation the pic caused during a subsequent SiriusXM appearance. “We’re friends. We have the same group of friends. We hang out all the time. The one photo that was ever taken got posted,” he said at the time. “We’re good friends. No collaborations as of yet. I know she’s been doing some music too. We were just out for dinner.”
Later in the month, the Irish hunk even made it a point to send love and support to the singer while she promoted her single “Lose You To Love Me” on Instagram. “Thank you all for standing by my side through the highs and lows. I couldn’t do it without you all and I can’t wait to start my next adventure with you,” she wrote on an emotional and short clip of the track. Niall commented on the post with two sweet red heart emojis.
Considering the dynamic duo have been close for years, we’re gonna hold out hope that these two might finally get together one of these days. Either way, we can dream, can’t we?