Is this the end of Justin Bieber and Selena Gomez's tween-tastic romance? The rumor mill is speculating that the singing sensations have split.
According to unsubstantiated reports on the Web, the photogenic couple have gone their seperate ways, possibly over a text message that Bieber allegedly sent to ex-girlfriend Jasmine Villegas.
While this is all just speculation, the searches are already through the roof. Over the past several hours, online lookups for "selena gomez break up," "justin selena split," and "justin bieber single" have all hit high notes in the Search box.
Phone calls seeking comment from representatives for Gomez and Bieber were not immediately returned.
This rumored breakup comes just a week after Bieber made a surprise appearance at one of Gomez's concerts. The well-groomed young man took the stage, much to the delight of the thousands of fans in attendance, and sang Justin Timberlake's mournful tune "Cry Me a River." The song choice may have seemed odd at the time, but if the rumors are indeed true, the choice was appropriate.
A small sample of the lyrics:
You were my sun, you were my earth/But you didn't know all the ways I loved you, no/So you took a chance and made other plans/But I bet you didn't think that they would come crashing down, no
But don't go starting a candlelight vigil just yet. Remember -- the Internet has been wrong before (remember the Taylor Lautner death rumors?). As this blog from Zap2it points out, this Gomez-Bieber rumor may have originated with a random YouTube video that went viral.
Photo: Selena Gomez, left, and Justin Bieber. Credit: Carlo Allegri / Associated Press