Zara McDermott and Louis Tomlinson could be walking down the aisle, after the former Love Island star helped soothe the singer following a prolonged period of personal grief.
The couple, who started dating just 10 months ago before finally going Instagram official last summer, are said to be more loved-up than ever, with Zara celebrating her 29th birthday in December by posting a snap of herself and Louis cosying up together.
“The best birthday ever with you and the final year of my 20s,” she captioned the pic. Now, the equally smitten former One Direction star is said to be on the verge of proposing.
“You’ve never seen a couple so in love with each other,” a source tells new. “They’re so blissfully in love and I think we could be hearing wedding bells soon.”
Last October, Louis revealed how Zara had even inspired his new album, telling Steven Bartlett’s Diary Of A CEO podcast, “I’m a deeply, deeply romantic person. For me, I have to have been living it – it has to be literal, it has to be real to me.
“So, if I wasn’t feeling so good, like right now, I wasn’t feeling so in love, the record probably would have a slightly different feel to it.”
In early December, Louis’ twin sisters Daisy and Phoebe, 21, revealed on their Tea With The Twins podcast that Zara would be spending Christmas with them, saying, “And we’ve got another new [family] member as our brother’s got a new girlfriend, so that will be nice. I think there will be 16 of us in total.”
Former Strictly Come Dancing star Zara came into Louis’ life at just the right moment, with our source revealing how the reality TV regular-turned-documentary maker provided much-needed support for the singer amid a period of personal turmoil.
Doncaster-born Louis was left “beyond devastated” after his former bandmate, Liam Payne, died at the age of 31 the previous October, after falling from a hotel balcony.
Reeling with shock, the dad-of-one, 34, penned a moving tribute to his late friend, writing, “I feel beyond lucky to have had you in my life but I’m really struggling with the idea of saying goodbye. I wish I got [the] chance to say goodbye and tell you one more time how much I loved you.”
Losing Liam was just the latest in a line of tragedies to happen to Louis, who shares a nine-year-old son, Freddie Reign Tomlinson, with his ex-girlfriend, stylist Briana Jungwirth.
In 2016, his mother, Johannah Deakin, passed away from leukaemia aged 43, while three years later his sister, Félicité, 18, died of an accidental drug overdose.
Louis, who is the oldest of seven children, later said, “I’ve been to rock bottom and I feel like, whatever my career’s going to throw in front of me, it’s going to be nothing as big or as emotionally heavy as that. So, weirdly, I’ve turned something that’s really dark into something that empowers me, makes me stronger.”
After such testing times, our source says Zara – who was previously in a five-year relationship with former Made In Chelsea star Sam Thompson – was a breath of fresh air.
“Louis has been through so much, especially losing his sister and losing Liam, and she’s a great comfort. She’s seen what he’s been through, with all the grieving, and she really respects him,” says our source.
“He’s totally smitten with her. This is true love and not a showbiz romance. [Zara] is The One and I think he’s realised life is very short and you’ve got to do something about it if you’re happy.”
Zara has come a long way since her rocky relationship with Sam, which saw her embroiled in a cheating storm that caused them to briefly split.
“You’re witnessing a different Zara,” says our source. “She just has a huge love for Louis and he can see how kind and understanding she is.
“With all his grieving and getting through stuff, it’s honestly been a tough time for him – and she’s been wonderful. She’s seen him so vulnerable and it makes her love him even more.”
Our source even goes as far as to say that we “could even see a little Louis running around” in the not-too-distant future, adding, “He’s so down to earth, he’s so sweet and he definitely brings the best out in Zara.”
While Louis might be a global star thanks to his time in the chart-topping boyband, we’re told he and Zara live a surprisingly simple life away from the celebrity spotlight.
“It’s not the showbiz stuff she used to do with Sam,” says our source. “They just like cuddling up, watching Netflix, going for walks.
“As you’ll see in many of their pictures on Instagram, they’re just out with their bobble hats on, enjoying the small, everyday things in life rather than the big, glitzy showbiz stuff. One Direction was one of the biggest boybands ever, but Zara just loves the person inside.”