Littleton Mercury
Littleton Mercury
min read · August 14, 2025 · Entertainment

The Night Zayn Malik and Harry Styles Captivated a Fan: Inside the Gossip and Revelations

Mom-of-two Tricia Corona, pictured this week by Daily Mail, says she is the woman on the other end of the line in Zayn Malik's booty call that set the internet on fire 13 years ago

SHOCKING REVELATION: ONE DIRECTION FAN'S SECRET ENCOUNTER WITH ZAYN MALIK EXPOSED

For over a decade, fans of One Direction have been speculating about the identity of the woman who was on the other end of a leaked phone call with Zayn Malik in 2012. The mystery has finally come to an end, as Tricia Corona, now 32 and a married mother-of-two, has come forward for the first time to reveal that she is the fan who spent a night with the then-19-year-old Malik.

In the phone call, which was leaked online months later, a man with a northern English accent invites a group of women to join him at his hotel room. The caller claims his friend "Harry" (who fans speculated was bandmate Harry Styles) wanted "booty" and instructs the woman to tell hotel staff she is Crystabel Riley, the band's makeup artist, to avoid attention from fans outside.

Malike (second right) and the rest of the band signed March 17, 2012

Tricia Corona, a mortgage processor and make-up artist from Pennsylvania, revealed that she was the mystery woman on the phone call. She told The Scholarly Note in an exclusive interview: "We were kids, and that was just a fun time in my life. But this is my life now, and I'm not afraid to tell you the story."

The encounter began when Corona took her super fan cousin to meet One Direction during an album signing at a Walmart in suburban Philadelphia on March 17, 2012. After four hours of waiting in line with other fans, she finally got to meet the band and boldly gave Malik her phone number on a piece of paper she had stuffed in her bra.

"I don't know where the confidence came from to do what I did," Corona said. "It's almost like I blacked out." She recalled speaking to Liam Payne, Niall Horan, and Louis Tomlinson before seeing Malik sign something. When he muttered "I like your jubblies" (which she later found out meant "boobs"), she pulled her number out of her bra and handed it to him.

Corona caught Malik's attention in her neon mini dress paired with a dark vest and boots on the day of their hook-up

Malik passed the paper to Harry Styles, who replied: "Keep them." Corona said she was always a Zayn fan, but Harry was just a sweet guy. She then shared photos with The Scholarly Note that were taken on the day of the signing, including one where she is wearing a neon mini dress and boots.

Corona claimed that she received multiple prank calls from a British phone number before Malik finally called her at midnight to invite her to his hotel room in Philadelphia. She agreed, and her friends began the one-and-a-half-hour drive back to the city. When they arrived, Malik called again to say he had left for New York City, but asked Corona to meet him there.

She claims Malik invited her to his luxury hotel room, where they chatted about his newfound fame and enjoyed a room service meal of chicken and fries before what she euphemistically calls an "adult rendezvous." Corona said that Harry Styles was also interested in one of her friends and invited her to his hotel room, opposite Malik's, but declined to reveal the friend's identity or further details.

The make-up artist and mother of two gave Malik her phone number at the event, which she had written on a piece of paper tucked into her bra

The two women went to see the popstars at The London, a high-end hotel in midtown Manhattan. Corona described the opulent surroundings: "It was the nicest hotel I've ever been in. It was super fancy." They took the elevator up to the floor where the band was staying and met Liam and Louis, who were on a different floor from Malik and Styles.

Corona said she spent about four hours with Malik before leaving the hotel with her friend and returning home to their "normal lives" in a suburb just outside Pittsburgh. She claimed that she didn't make it back in time for her job as a waitress but had a "fun story" to tell friends – little did she know that it would become one of the most talked-about celebrity scandals of all time.

When the phone call was leaked online, Corona said she felt embarrassed and scared, especially since Malik was going through a rough patch in his relationship with Perrie Edwards. She told The Scholarly Note: "I had people messaging me: 'Is this what you were talking about?' And it was crazy."

The makeup artist said Zayn complimented her 'jubblies', referring to her breasts, before she gave him her number and suggested they hang out later, to which he allegedly replied, 'Okay'

Corona emphasized that her liaison with Malik was just a small part of her life back then, and now that she's in her 30s, she feels ready to go public with her story. She said: "The life I live now is far different than the life that I once lived, and that's okay."

Her husband, Andrew, 40, also spoke about the scandal: "Usually, like Tricia said, we laugh because they don't know what they're talking about. Tricia had a story to tell. And that's nothing that would upset me, what she did 12 years ago when we were just friends."

Zayn Malik's representatives did not return requests for comment. Harry Styles' team claimed it was too long ago to remember.

After Corona, who was 18 at the time, gave the superstar her phone number, she said she saw him pass it to bandmate Harry Styles and tell him to 'keep them'

Corona's revelation comes at a time when Malik is co-parenting his four-year-old daughter Khai with ex-girlfriend Gigi Hadid, after being charged with harassment for allegedly pushing Yolanda Hadid into a dresser in 2021.

The scandal surrounding Corona and Malik has sparked internet trolls to send death threats and urge her pharmacist husband, Andrew, to take their two young children and leave. But Corona said: "People saying that my husband should leave me and that my kids should hate me, that doesn't faze me, because this was a minuscule part of my life."

It's clear that Corona's encounter with Malik will be etched in the memories of One Direction fans for years to come. As she said: "The groupie life is like Fight Club... but I'm not in it anymore."

Other photos taken by Corona show the One Direction stars sitting at a table with silly string sprayed over a picture of their faces behind them

Corona shared screenshots she said were call logs  from One Direction star Malik after the signing. She claimed the bandmates initially kept prank calling her, with her hearing them yelling, giggling and talking before hanging up

Corona claimed that Malik's bandmate Harry Styles showed interest in her female friend and invited her to his hotel room across from Malik’s

She said she and her friend went to see the pop stars at The London, a high-end hotel in midtown Manhattan and described being blown away by the opulent surroundings

When pressed for more information, she confirmed that she and Malik slept together, emphasizing that both were consenting adults. She also described him as kind and respectful throughout their encounter

The mom of two hit back on claims that Malik cheated on his then-girlfriend, Edwards, stating she believed he was single at the time and that she would never have been intimate with him if she had known he was in a relationship

Corona posted a series of TikToks on her rendezvous with Malik earlier this month, but told Daily Mail that she has been met with some vitriol from hardcore 1D fans who have sent her death threats

The makeup artist emphasized that it was a 'fun time in her life' and she wanted to set the record straight that she was the mysterious 'Crystabel Riley' on the audio that was leaked in 2012

Malik had a four-year relationship with Edwards, but faced numerous rumors of infidelity

Malik dated supermodel Gigi Hadid, but the on-again, off-again couple broke up permanently in late 2021 following a dispute with Gigi’s mother, Yolanda