One Direction singer Liam Payne is reportedly dating X-Factor judge Cheryl Fernandez-Versini. The Sun says the pair were “secret lovers” who have dated since late 2015, when she started divorce proceedings.

Liam Payne may have just confirmed those Cheryl rumours https://t.co/9hCXEaADDF pic.twitter.com/yxDam3IBRZ

— HuffPost UK Ent (@HuffPostUKEnt) February 28, 2016

The One Direction mate recently confirmed the relationship, People magazine reports.

Liam Payne and Cheryl Fernandez-Versini first met in 2010, when he, along with his future One Direction band mates, were competing on the X-Factor.

It’s “been going on for awhile,” a source close to Fernandez-Versini says. “Both are very similar and happy.”

One Direction performed at the X-Factor finale in December, and the romance between Liam Payne, who is 22, and Fernandez-Versini, who is 32, allegedly began then. She is in the process of divorcing her husband of 19 months, Jean-Bernard Fernandez-Versini.

Liam Payne was previously linked to Danielle Peazer. He also dated Leona Lewis for a while. His relationship with Cheryl Fernandez-Versini seems to be the first serious one the One Direction singer has been involved in for quite some time.

#1D's Liam Payne and #XFactor judge Cheryl Fernandez-Versini are dating https://t.co/rgCD39WbZw pic.twitter.com/d5Uc434GM1

— People Magazine (@people) February 27, 2016

Do you see a future for the players in this May-December romance, or is the One Direction band mate setting himself up for grave disappointment? If Cheryl Fernandez-Versini cheated on her husband with Liam Payne, might that mean he could one day experience something similar?