British pop star Zayn Malik prefers dating famous women because he finds them easier to relate to than ordinary girls.

The singer broke off his engagement to Little Mix star Perrie Edwards last year (15), just months after he quit One Direction, and Zayn is now rumoured to be dating model Gigi Hadid.

Zayn, 23, has yet to talk publicly about his new romance with Gigi, but he opened up about his penchant for famous females during a chat with Britain's Culture magazine.

He insists dating a woman in the public eye is much easier because he can "skip the explanation phase" and fears life in the spotlight would "confuse" a girl who is not used to the attention.

"There's no real trust issues in a sense (when dating a famous woman) - like, 'Is this person gonna record me while I'm taking a p**s?'..." he explains. "It's just life. The situations that I'm in grant me to be around them sort of people (sic), you know what I mean? And luckily, you get to have a conversation with them sort of people (sic). Because there's a lot of fit celebrity birds (women)."

Zayn has been linked to Gigi since late last year (15) as they have been spotted out together on numerous occasions, and they have also posted pictures of themselves together on social media.

Gigi previously dated another pop star, Joe Jonas, but their on/off romance ended for good in early November (15).