Shawn Mendes Makes A Surprising Confession About Camila Cabello Romance

Shawn Mendes is addressing rumors he and Fifth Harmony star Camila Cabello are dating once and for all.

Shawn spoke out about his alleged romance with Camila in a new interview with the British radio network CapitalFM earlier this week, admitting that rumors he and Cabello are, or at least were, an item are nothing but “water off a duck’s back” to him.

“It’s fine, honestly, you can’t expect as an artist to do a collaboration with a girl and the world not think you’re dating,” Shawn revealed during the CapitalFM interview, “so it’s okay.”

Mendes then shattered the hearts of fans hoping that he would finally confirm their widely speculated romance with Cabello, admitting once and for all, “we’re not dating. So that’s straight there. Don’t ask again.”

But while Shawn is once again denying the Camila dating rumors, he did reveal a surprising secret about their friendship that he admitted on the radio show once left him with a black eye.

After the show’s host Dave Berry referred to Cabello as “Camila Ca-ba-llo,” Mendes told the host was pronouncing the Fifth Harmony star’s name wrong and joked that “you can’t say that in front of her” as it’s actually pronounced “Camila Ca-be-yo.”

“If I say that, it’s like, a dagger to the heart,” Shawn joked on the CapitalFM radio show, “be careful because I’m telling you, I’m warning you now, I had a black eye for a month [for saying it wrong]. It’s the Cuban in her.”

Shawn Mendes previously denied a romance between himself and Camila Cabello in an interview with daytime talk show host Wendy Williams during an appearance on Pitbull New Year’s Eve Revolution in late 2015, where Mendes flat-out denied he and Camila were dating.

“I hear your girlfriend is here with you tonight,” Wendy told Mendes on the New Years Eve show, hinting at Cabello who was also spotted at the show, to which Shawn replied, “Actually that’s wrong. I don’t have a girlfriend… Maybe I’ll find one here tonight.”

The Shawn and Camila dating rumors first began back in September 2015, after E! News reported that Mendes and Cabello were very much an item after growing close while on tour with Austin Mahone just months before they released their duet “I Know What You Did Last Summer.”

An insider close to the alleged couple told the site that Shawn and Cabello “really like each other and laugh nonstop when they’re together,” though the two never officially confirmed their supposed romance.

However, Mendes and Cabello have had no shortage of seemingly pretty flirty pictures on their social media pages, which appeared to hint that there could be more to their friendship than Shawn and the Fifth Harmony singer are now letting on.

Just before E! News reported their supposed romance, Camila posted a sweet snap on Instagram of herself and Shawn together backstage at the iHeartRadio Festival, where Cabello rested her head on Mendes’s shoulder.

“@shawnmendes and i are in desperate need of caffeine. #iheartradio,” Camila captioned the photo.

Camila Cabello also added fuel to the Shawn Mendes romance fire on Twitter in August after hinting that she and Mendes could be getting close as she revealed that she was teaching him Spanish.

“Going to try to learn Spanish again…” Shawn tweeted out on August 22, to which Camila replied, “don’t worry, you’ll learn fast because you have an INCREDIBLE Spanish teacher whose name rhymes with Vamila Carmello.”

What do you think of Shawn’s latest admission about his supposed romance with Camila? Do you think Shawn Mendes and Camila Cabello ever dated?

[Photo by Frazer Harrison/Getty Images for The People’s Choice Awards]