One Direction fans it’s time to celebrate, Rebecca Ferguson and Zain Malik have finally split up.

Many Zain lovers were devastated when the X Factor pair announced their relationship earlier this year, with some branding her a cradle snatcher due to the six year age gap between the couple.

It was said that after they both made the final of the ITV show – Zain finished in third place with his boyband, while Rebecca ended in second place behind Matt Cardle – and started touring with their fellow contestants, the pair became close and started dating.

However the mum of two took to her Twitter feed today to announce that she is now single – though the tweet has now been deleted.

She wrote:

“im happy to say ive decided to be single my children my family and my career are now my world!! (sic)

Things seemed rosy between the pair last month, when Ferguson spoke to a newspaper, explaining how much she cared for her toyboy singer.

She admitted that she never meant to fall for the young hunk, but couldn’t resist his charms. She added:

“”Sometimes when the right person comes along, you just drop your guard. He’s a very sweet person with a very kind heart.

“I didn’t even know Zayn liked me but apparently he had done for a very long time, but nobody told me. I was the last person to find out.”

“We’re really in love and it’s hard to see how negative things have become. I want people to know that I’m happy, he’s happy and we’re in a loving, caring relationship. It’s sad that people are so against it.”