One Direction star Zayn Malik and fellow British singer Perrie Edwards have gone public with their romance by openly kissing during a day out in London.

Malik and Edwards - whose band Little Mix won the U.K.'s "The X Factor" in December, a year after One Direction came third in the contest - sparked speculation they are dating in recent weeks as they messaged each other on Twitter.

And now the young singers have confirmed the rumours by stepping out together in London this week.

They were spotted playing around on a scooter before kissing as Malik prepares to jet off to the U.S. with his band.

A source tells Britain's The Sun, "It was a very sweet farewell. They hugged, snogged and mucked about on a scooter while they were waiting for Zayn to be picked up. He was giving her lifts along the road. You could see they are genuinely really into each other."

"Both were dubious whether they could make it work due to the pressure of their pop star statuses - but they decided they like each other too much not to give it a go. So they've spent months getting to know each other to make sure they were on track before they went public."