Zayn Malik has returned to social media after several weeks of absence, sharing a new selfie and showing off his long, bushy beard.
This marks his first photo share in five weeks, and in just a few short hours, has already racked up more than 5.6 million likes and thousands of comments on Instagram.
In the new photo, Zayn is looking off in the distance while wearing sunglasses with round lenses that look identical to the ones he wore five weeks ago and are part of a collab with Arnette. He also a black, leather jacket to complete the look. But it’s his beard that stole the show.
It’s not abnormal for Zayn to sport a short beard or a bit of stubble. But his new beard is epic and it’s creating a lot of buzz.
Zayn Malik debuts new beard after Gigi Hadid split
Zayn didn’t explain why he opted to grow out a full beard over the last few months but some have suggested that it has something to do with his Gigi Hadid split back in late September after an incident with Gigi’s mother, Yolanda Hadid.
Gigii and Zayn share a daughter, Khai Hadid Malik.
Zayn, who once was a prolific social media poster, has gone nearly silent in the time since the incident, only posting a handful of photos for his 44.1 million followers over the past few months.
Is Zayn Malik looking for a curvy girl after split?
Along with Zayn Malik’s new look come rumors that the singer has been looking for love in an unusual place. His famous mug was recently spotted on the plus-size dating app WooPlus.
Based on Zayn’s new full beard, it makes this story even more believable as the man going by the name “Zed” on the app looks just like Zayn, full beard and all.
Page Six revealed that the WooPlus dating app makes members verify their identity in an effort to ensure their members are speaking to real people and are not being catfished. They also reported that the “Zed” member that looks just like Zayn Malik (and is even sporting a full beard) listed his location as Ottsville, Pennsylvania, and it’s worth noting that Pennsylvania is where Zayn and Gigi were living while they were together.
Though it’s not been proven, Elite Daily suggested that this WooPlus member might actually be Zayn in a paid partnership and if that’s the case, they definitely got their money’s worth because the WooPlus name and connection with the Kiss You singer has been the focus of dozens of headlines since Zayn (or possibly a Zayn doppelganger) was spotted on the dating app.