Is Leona Lewis dating Liam Payne?

In recent interviews, Lewis may not have said outright that she is dating the One Direction singer; but she certainly alluded to the idea. However, Payne make the point clear that he is not dating Lewis and that he's still single.

Payne took to Twitter to address the issue and to deny rumors that he is planning to quit the British boy band to work on a solo career, after he recently worried fans when he started his own official YouTube channel outside of the usual One Direction group channel.

"Okay bored of constant news articles... I'm not dating Leona ... My YouTube channel isn't for a solo career and I didn't insult Kim k...Pow!" Payne tweeted.

Lewis was interviewed by the Daily Mail and had her own statement on the issue:

"All I'll say about the rumors of me dating Liam from One Direction is you never know where things might end up if they're given half a chance. Other than that, I've never been one to talk about my personal life, because it's important to keep a little bit of yourself sacred."

Yahoo reported that during a different interview last week, Lewis was asked if she was dating Payne and cryptically answered, "I'm not saying. I'm having fun and enjoying myself."

That doesn't sound like a definite no, but more of an ambiguous maybe. Either way, Payne's tweet hasn't stopped the rumors that the singers are romantically linked. The 27-year-old female singer also commented on the age difference between the two, as Payne is eight years younger.

"If you have a bond with someone it (age) doesn't come into it," Lewis said. "I'd date someone younger or older, age doesn't matter to me. Or looks, really - it's all about maturity."

Payne and the rest of One Direction will appear at the Jingle Bell Ball next month in London's O2 Arena alongside other bands like The Wanted, JLS and Girls Aloud.