So close: Cheryl Cole and Derek Hough take a stroll along the beach in South Africa, where the couple have been celebrating New Year
Just last week, she denied that she was dating - but Cheryl Cole and Derek Hough apparently showed off their love with a public kiss as they celebrated the New Year in South Africa yesterday.
Dancing With The Stars professional Hough, 26, and the X Factor judge, 27, looked closer than ever as they walked along an idyllic beach near their villa in Cape Town after they had welcomed in the New Year at a house party.
Wearing a yellow satin asymmetrical dress at the bash, Cheryl had looked glowing and happy as she danced with Derek.
Hough has also reportedly bought the 27-year-old X Factor judge a £10,000 diamond bracelet as a love token.
Utah-born Hough whisked Cheryl away for a week-long break to mark the end of a year which the Girls Aloud star judge has described as 'the worst of my life' after she divorced from Ashley Cole and almost died from malaria following her visit to Tanzania six months ago.
The pair are staying in a luxury beachside villa in the Camps Bay resort a few miles outside Cape Town and saw in 2011 at a £1million house party apparently thrown by American property mogul Preston Haskell.
Close: Cheryl Cole dances with Derek Hough at Preston Haskell's New Year's Eve party in Cape Town, South Africa
It was there, in front of the assembled revellers, that the couple sealed their love with a passionate kiss after toasting each other with champagne as the midnight chimes rang out.
The Sunday Mirror reports that a source close to the couple said: 'Cheryl and Derek are together and don’t care who knows it.'
Animated: Cheryl and Derek chat on the dancefloor amid the revelry
The party, which featured trapeze artists, acrobats and dancers, was held at Haskell's mansion in Fresnaye, overlooking Cape Town's Table Mountain.
It's also said that Derek held Cheryl in his arms as they watched a firework display explode over the skyline.
Idyllic: The couple are holidaying in the resort of Camps Bay in South Africa
The pair arrived in South Africa on Wednesday after Cheryl spent Christmas with her family in her native Newcastle.
After spending two days at the One And Only Hotel in Cape Town, the pair then transferred to a private rented villa on Friday.
Talking to Alan Carr on his Chatty Man show last week, Cheryl insisted she was still single following her divorce from Chelsea and England player Ashley, 29.
She said: 'I've had no time. A lady doesn't talk about these things.'
Cheryl and Derek first struck up a friendship in 2009 when he appeared in the video for her single Parachute.
'A lady doesn't talk about these things' - Cheryl on Alan Carr's Channel 4 chat show Chatty Man last month
After allegations of her ex-husband's racy text messages were published last February, Cheryl jetted to Los Angeles to seek solace with Hough.
During her interview on Piers Morgan's Life Stories in October, Cole praised Hough for saving her life for recommending she get a blood test when she began to suffer the initial effects of her malaria.
She said: 'He's an amazing, amazing person... I can never repay him for that (saving my life).
'I am not confirming or denying anything. People can think he's my boyfriend, people can think he's my best friend.'
Source:Dailymail