Gigi Hadid recalls first date with Zayn Malik: 'We played it cool'

Feb. 10 (UPI) -- Gigi Hadid says she and boyfriend Zayn Malik "played it cool" on their first date.

The 21-year-old American model recounted her early relationship with the 24-year-old English singer on Friday's episode of The Ellen DeGeneres Show.

"He was in New York to come to the Victoria's Secret show last year and ended up not coming. I was like, 'I'll play it cool. I'll go to the after-party.' He wasn't there. Later that week, we ended up going out on our first date," Hadid told DeGeneres.

"We played it cool for, like, 10 minutes, and then I was like, 'You're really cute,'" she shared. "We connected really quickly. We kind of had the same sense of humor and started sharing videos."

Hadid and Malik were first linked in November 2015, and made their red carpet debut as a couple at the Met gala in May. The model recently said in the March issue of British Vogue that she and Malik enjoy low-key nights at home.

"When I'm in LA I mostly stay in because it's my time off and I like being with my boyfriend and doing art and cooking," she told the magazine. "We like late-night movies and we order from this amazing place that does lattes and gingerbread cookies."

"I need coffee to stay up," the star admitted. "I'm always like, 'Babe, let's go to a movie.' Then I fall asleep halfway through and he's like, 'You've seen the first half of every movie out there and you have no idea how any of them end.'"

Hadid is known for her modeling work with Guess, Victoria's Secret and Sports Illustrated, and recently appeared on the March cover of Vogue with Kendall Jenner and Ashley Graham. Malik came to fame with One Direction and released the solo album Mind of Mine in March 2016.