Lewis Hamilton broke off his long-running romance with Nicole Scherzinger following claims she was caught kissing bad boy Chris Brown in a nightclub.

Snaps of Nicole and Chris cosying up during a night out at Los Angeles hotspot Supperclub emerged last month, and seemingly showed the pair smooching in one grainy shot.

The X Factor beauty's rep was quick to shoot down the speculation, but the pictures were enough for F1 star Lewis to call off the relationship, according to The Sun.

A source told the newspaper: "Splitting was his decision. He's got a lot on his plate at the moment. And her commitments on X Factor and his career were clashing over the last few months.

"When he saw the pictures of her with Chris, he flew off the handle. He wasn't happy at all - even though they were not together any more."

Following the release of the pictures, Nicole's rep said: "There is absolutely no truth to the ridiculous story... The photos that have surfaced are (of) old friends who were trying to talk at a very loud club. I guarantee there will be no photos of them kissing."

Despite the rocky ties to her British beau, Nicole has decided to buy a pad in London. Arriving in her new hometown on Tuesday, she tweeted: "Guess who just moved to London! 6am and I've just touched down... let's play ball UK."

> IN PICS: X FACTOR FINALISTS 2012

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