Little Mix star Perrie Edwards has sparked speculation that she is having a dig at ex Zayn Malik by dressing up as a cheetah.

The 22-year-old singer split from the former One Direction star last month. Pictures of Zayn, also 22, with his arm around another girl had emerged while he was on tour with 1D in Thailand earlier in the year.

Perrie has posted pictures of herself on Instagram with cat ears and body paint on her face and torso which she captioned “Meeeow!”

She could have been mistaken for a leopard, but just to make sure the message was clear she added a second photo of herself looking sizzling in a sexy, skin-tight PVC outfit, captioned “Cheetahhhh!”

Perrie and Zayn met on The X Factor in 2011 and began dating in March 2012, before getting engaged in 2013.

Perrie recently broke down in tears while performing with Little Mix for the Today Show in America.

The line from track The End which appeared to spark the emotional response was: “And no-one can love you the way I used to do.”