Now, backstage at last month’s One Direction gig in Manchester, the two were said to have been ‘flirting’ and posing cheerily for photos together.

Horan, aged 20, has made no secret of his Corrie crush but may find difficulty in the presence of Vincent’s current boyfriend – Chelsea-signed football player Josh McEachran.

Vincent, who plays Sophie Webster in the ITV soap, is involved in a longstanding romance with midfielder McEachran, presenting some problems for the hopeful Horan. However, he’s keeping his options open and has also been linked recently with X Factor USA judge Demi Levato and model Zoe Whelan.

Horan’s first ever tweet to Vincent, which came before reaching One Direction fame in February 2011, simply read:

“'You havta follow me hahahahahaha.”

Since then the Irish star has been quoted on the qualities of his perfect partner, saying that he likes his girls to be:

"cute, but not super-sexy, as that can be intimidating."

The 'Baby' singer's terribly late arrival saw hundreds of his fans walk-out of the venue despite waiting hours for his turn on the stage.

Bieber, 19, appeared in front of the audience at 10.35pm - just 25 minutes before his sell-out concert was due to finish.

The star has many young fans who were forced to leave early and  Twitter was ablaze with angry parents after the show.

One user angrily posted: "@justinbieber: Good day” well it was until you were 2 hours late and we ended up missing you as we had to get the train #wasteoftime &money.

He added: "discusting!! Waste of my time and money...never again (sic)."

Former Coronation Street actress Wendi Peters tweeted: "I shall have an extremely moody daughter tomorrow .. Livid (sic)."

Mother Emma Harman, from Kent, told Sky News she was "disgusted" after her husband had been left waiting with their nine-year-old daughter.

She said: "I am hoping he will be ashamed of his behaviour, but I very much doubt it. My husband has left now having seen three songs."

Joanne Dorken of MTV News tweeted: "Literally kids in tears on the tube after parents made them leave to get last trains! Heartbreaking stuff :( (sic)."

The 02 apologised for Beiber's late arrival, but did not give a reason for the star's delay.

Posting on Twitter, the message read: "Justin Bieber is now on stage and apologises for the lateness of his show. Sorry to all the Justin Bieber fans for the lateness of his show tonight. The Tube will still be running when the show finishes (sic)."

Earlier in the day, Bieber tweeted about his sunny state of mind, writing: "In a good mood. Got my friends and team with me here and ready for Day 1 at the O2. London get ready! #BELIEVEtour (sic)."

The blonde beauty stormed into last night's final alongside Eastenders actress Charlie Brooks, beating off strong competition from celebrities including boxer David Haye, former Coronation Street actress Helen Flanagan and Made In Chelsea star Hugo Taylor.

Roberts lost out on the jungle queen crowning after facing off with Brooks for the 'Final Feast' Bushtucker Trial in which the pair had to eat delicacies including camel penis, witchety grubs and raw fish eyes in order to celebrate their final moments in the Australian camp with a Mexican-themed final meal.

After winning the luxury meal, US singer Roberts claimed: "That was the most disgusting thing I've ever done in my life. That eyeball and the popping of the eyeball. It smelled. I am never doing anything like that again in my entire life."

Despite being a popular campmate and completing her set trials with gusto, Roberts graciously accepted second place in last night's final (December 1) - adding she was stunned to have gotten so far in the competition.

She gushed to hosts Ant & Dec after leaving the jungle: "I have gotten beyond what I ever expected. I'm so proud of myself.

“I’m excited that people will get to know me as Ashley Roberts and not just a Pussycat Doll. I don’t think the UK had any idea who I was as an individual, so it’s pretty crazy that people have been picking up the phone and voting for me.”

It is now reported Roberts is set to make the most of her newfound popularity in the UK. Her friend Bobby Newberry - who was in Australia last night to welcome the 31-year-old American as she left the jungle - told the Sunday Mirror:

“Ashley would love to move to the UK and make a career there, and I think that’ll be her next move. She’s on a path ...she would love to do television presenting. She just missed out on a job at the X Factor USA, hosting the show and I know she was very keen to do that. If she got the opportunity to work on the UK show, she would do that in a heartbeat.

He added: “The UK loves her and they want more of her, so this isn’t the end of her on ­television screens in the UK. She’s a hugely talented person. Music has always been her passion and she actually has a new track out now. But she could easily turn her hand to presenting. She has told me she would love to do acting as well. Ashley’s a free spirit and she would go wherever she needed to go.”

Roberts and Brooks survived 22 days in the jungle.

Watch Ashley Roberts perform with the Pussycat Dolls here:

The stunning singer is delving into Australian jungle life for the hit ITV show, where she will endure tough tasks and face a basic living environment.

Roberts - who is joined by boxer David Haye and Doctor Who's Colin Baker amongst others- is looking forward to spending time with her male counterparts.

She told The Sun: “I’m a single lady and I like good-looking, fun men. I like guys who are confident and have a sense of humour. They have to be ambitious, driven, all that good stuff. It would definitely be nice to have a good-looking, strong Tarzan man with me in the jungle.

She added: “That would be fantastic, especially if he protected me from creepy things."

However, Roberts doesn't think she'll be looking for anything more than a helping hand with creepy crawlies and cooking. She added:

"But I don’t know about sex. I can’t imagine being hungry in a jungle would leave me thinking, ‘Oh, I’m feeling sexy right now.’"

Other names on this year's series include Coronation Street's Helen Flanagan, controversial MP Nadine Dorries, EastEnders star Charlie Brooks and Made In Chelsea's Hugo Taylor.