Kate Upton and Maksim Chmerkovskiy appear to be back together.

The 21-year-old model and the 'Dancing With the Stars' performer, who split in December after six months of dating, sparked speculation they have rekindled their romance after he posted a photograph of them cuddling on Instagram and deleted the snap a few minutes later.

The image, which shows Kate smiling widely with her arm wrapped around Maksim, 34, was taken while they was partying at Tao nightclub in New York City on Saturday night (31.05.14).

Sources close to the former couple previously blamed their respective hectic schedules for their break-up late last year.

An insider said at the time: ''They are really good friends still and speak all the time, but their schedules just made it too difficult and it fell apart.

''[Maksim] has a lot of respect for her, but it just wasn't working anymore.''

The 'Other Woman' star first started dating the professional dancer last June after being introduced by mutual friends, but they only went public with their romance in September.

Speaking about their relationship, Maksim previously said: ''She's an amazing person. We have an incredible time together, and, you know, I definitely didn't see that coming and I think neither did she. We enjoy each other's company very much and like I said, she's a great girl that I never thought anything romantic like this could have happened.''

The Sports Illustrated beauty was thought to have reunited with baseball player Justin Verlander, 31, in January, whom she also dated briefly last year, but the duo haven't been spotted together recently.