BY RACHEL HANDLER
Much ink—and many a tear—have been spent this week on the romantic exploits of Selena Gomez. On Monday, the world wondered whether a shaky cell-phone video showing Justin Bieber serenading Gomez at a hotel bar meant the youthful pair were reuniting for the 1,600th time. But then came Wednesday’s even more surprising rumor: Gomez may instead be dating One Direction’s Niall Horan. Meanwhile, all along, Monday through Wednesday and beyond, the TMZs and the Us Weeklys of the world insisted that “Gomez is still very much single. [S]he’s still very, very single.”
So which one is it? Is Selena Gomez still very, very single? Is she returning once again to the innards of Justin Bieber’s bachelor pad? Is she asking Niall Horan to say “awesome” over and over again because his accent is cute and they don't have much else to talk about yet? The answer is, at least according to Gomez, none of the above. In fact, in a new interview with In Style UK, Gomez adds fuel to the trashcan fire that is the media’s coverage of her love life by casually suggesting that she’d like to date yet another fresh-faced-but-deeply-troubled musician: Niall Horan’s ex-bandmate Zayn Malik. “If he had asked me out on a date, I would be seen with him. Just kidding, but not kidding,” she told the mag “with a sly smile.”
Gomez goes on to admit to the mag that she is, in fact, reluctantly dating people, though it’s not clear whether she’s reluctantly dating Zayn Malik, Niall Horan, Justin Bieber, or your dad, who is an older guy, which interests her. “I hate [dating],” she tells In Style. “It’s hard and I'm weirded out by the idea that a guy has googled me before we meet, and that has happened.” She also adds, “I feel like I look 16 sometimes, which is a bummer because I would love to date older guys.”
But hark, dear reader. The most disturbing part of this entire brouhaha has yet to be revealed. On Tuesday, we reported on the romantic goings-on of yet another young and beautiful new couple: Gomez pal/supermodel Gigi Hadid and Zayn Malik. In other words, Gomez is either actively pursuing her friend’s rumored new boyfriend via the pages of In Style, or is just totally confused and having as much trouble keeping up with Young Hollywood’s love lives as we are.