Zayn Malik’s former fling Enrica Petrongari says the singer “seemed happy” when he was with ex-girlfriend Gigi Hadid, telling In Touch exclusively that he “always talked” about her prior to their split.
“He texted me months ago saying he was happy about his new life and his daughter [Khai]. He always talked very well about Gigi, so, it’s weird,” Petrongari, who worked as a masseuse for Malik, 28, from January 2018 to July 2018, tells In Touch. “We texted each other as friends, but no, we haven’t had physical contact.”
“Sometimes we just text each other from time to time but I have not seen him,” she adds.
Petrongari also details how she and the United Kingdom native allegedly first met.
“I started to work for him because I’m an orthopedic medical massage therapist in New York,” Petrongari claims. “The agency asked me to work at his house and said it was a celebrity but I didn’t know who it was. So, I went there and everything was fine and then step-by-step we got closer, and he started to text me all the time to come over.”
Petrongari was allegedly romantically involved with the former One Direction star before he got back together with the model in the fall of 2018. Malik’s team did not immediately respond to In Touch’s request for comment.
Hadid, 26, and Malik have since quietly “separated” nearly two years after they rekindled their on-again, off-again romance, an insider previously told In Touch on October 29 following news of Malik’s dispute with her mother, Yolanda Hadid, during which he allegedly “struck” her.
The “Pillow Talk” performer pleaded no contest to four counts of summary harassment stemming from the altercation on September 29 that took place at the home where he and Hadid have been raising their 13-month-old daughter.
“I adamantly deny striking Yolanda Hadid, and for the sake of my daughter, I decline to give any further details,” he told TMZ in a separate statement.
Malik and Hadid previously broke up in June 2016 but reconciled within a matter of days before parting ways a second time in March 2018. One month later, they were back on only to call it quits again in January 2019.
By January 2020, Malik and Hadid were both ready to give their romance another chance, later announcing they were expecting baby No. 1, Khai.
Despite recent events and the couple’s decision to take time apart, Malik still wants to be “very much involved in Khai’s life,” the insider also previously told In Touch. “There’s always a possibility that they’ll get back together in the future.”