Liam Payne has congratulated Zayn Malik and Gigi Hadid on their baby news.

Liam Payne

Liam Payne

The 26-year-old singer lost touch with his former One Direction bandmate Zayn when the latter left the group in 2015, but after it was revealed last week he is set to become a father for the first time, Liam - who has three-year-old son Bear with his ex-partner Cheryl - has sent him his best wishes.

Liam addressed the news on an Instagram livestream, when he said he wanted to speak about the subject before fans began to "relentlessly" ask him for his opinion.

He said: "Also this week, didn't really wanna leave it out, wanted to make sure I said something on my own place before I started getting asked about it relentlessly by everybody. I just wanted to say congratulations to Zayn and Gigi obviously, you know, they're having a baby."

Zayn, 27, and Gigi's impending arrival makes the 'Pillowtalk' hitmaker the third member of One Direction - who went on hiatus in late 2015 after Zayn's departure - to become a father, after Liam and Louis Tomlinson, who has four-year-old son Freddie with ex Briana Jungwirth.

Harry Styles and Niall Horan are yet to venture into fatherhood.

Meanwhile, Dua Lipa also recently gushed over Zayn and Gigi's baby news, as she said she can't wait to be an "Auntie".

Dua - who is dating Gigi's brother Anwar Hadid - was asked: "Technically, you're going to be an auntie?" and she replied: "Yeah. It's very exciting news. We're very, very excited."

Gigi, 25, confirmed her pregnancy last week, and revealed she's "very excited" to become a mother.

She said: "Obviously, we wished we could have announced it on our own terms but we're very excited and happy and grateful for everyone's well wishes and support. Especially during this time, it's a nice silver lining to be able to be home and be together and really experience it day by day."

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