Justin Bieber and Hailey Baldwin dating: Heart-throb confirms romance with new year's kiss

Drake may have been hoping 2016 would be the year that Justin Bieber and Selena Gomez would reconcile, but it looks like the Sorry hitmaker is all about moving forward. The Canadian pop superstar has appeared to confirm a budding romance with long-time friend Hailey Baldwin.

The 21-year-old rang in the new year with actor Stephen Baldwin's daughter and shared a few PDA pictures on Instagram effectively confirming rumours that they are more than just friends. In one of the images he can be seen locked in a passionate embrace with a blonde whose face is obscured. The blurry snap shows the lady in a pair of very short denim shorts and a loose white crop top. Although he did not caption the kissing snap he did tag Baldwin in the shot.

"Justin and Hailey were making out for everyone to see at a New Year's Eve party thrown by Richie Akiva," a source previously told TMZ.

The Biebs later shared a picture of the two all dressed up for what appears to be a romantic date night with Baldwin dressed to the nines and already playing the doting girlfriend. The outing capped off a hectic festive season for the twosome who were previously spotted enjoying each other's company in Anguilla and St Barts.

In another picture posted by Baldwin, 19, she drapes her arms around his neck and leans in close. The model simply captioned the photo: "New Years." While neither has discussed taking their friendship to the next level, the pictures speak for themselves and Bieber will not be checking into Heartbreak Hotel anytime soon.

Although it's safe to say that Bieber is officially out of the friend zone, just months ago Baldwin had insisted that that there was no truth to the romance rumours. "We're just friends. I've known him for a very long time, since I was about 13," she told E! News in February 2015. "But any male in his place, any girl that's around him they automatically assume. That's the world we live in. I'm just trying to be there for him and support him as a friend."

Back in November, Bieber was captured on camera serenading Gomez on the piano during a night out at the Montage Hotel in Beverly Hills. He belted out his rendition of The Temptations' My Girl as well as his hit Sorry. The former couple ended their tumultuous four-year relationship for good in 2014 but the Boyfriend singer recently admitted that he still loves the former Disney star.

During an appearance on The Ellen DeGeneres Show he admitted that a reunion was not off the cards. "I think we are both just on our own journeys and figuring ourselves out and I think maybe once we figure ourselves out, we can come back and make an awesome duo or she finds someone awesome and I'll find someone awesome. I just want her to be happy," he said.