In his first interview for six years, Zayn Malik has opened up on the reasons behind One Direction's break up. Ahead of his comeback single 'Love Like This' being released July 21, the singer-songwriter sat down with podcast host Alex Cooper in the latest episode of Call Her Daddy.
During the episode, the 30-year-old spoke about being a dad, writing songs and his time in one of Britain's biggest boy bands. Malik announced that he would be leaving One Direction back in 2015, five years after the band first came together on ITV's The X Factor.
The four remaining members - Harry Styles, Niall Horan, Louis Tomlinson, Liam Payne - put out their final album Made In The A.M., before calling it quits in 2016. In the interview with Cooper, Malik recalled leaving the group and the moment he knew it was his time to go.
"I think I’ve known for a minute," he said, before adding: "Look I don’t want to go into too much detail, but there was a lot of politics going on, certain people were doing certain things, certain people didn’t want to sign contracts, so I knew something was happening."
He went on: "There was obviously underlying issues, like within our friendships, too. We’ve been together every day for five years, and we got sick of each other, if I’m being completely honest. So we were close."
The father-of-one added how now he can look back at all the memories and experiences the band shared together in a "much fonder light." Malik also opened up on the issues he faces when performing on his own on stage, having only performed live three times in 2016 since exiting One Direction.
"I’m still nervous now cause it’s been a few years [since] I’ve been on stage, but I have this energy too. I feel like I have something to give and I want to get on stage and be there again and feel that," he said. "That’s one thing I can say, my fan base has always been supportive in that manner."
He continued: "They’re always just like, we’re here, we’ve got you. Like, when you’re ready we’ve got you. We’re gonna come and listen to your tunes.
"I gotta be super, super thankful for that and I’m super grateful. I feel that love for sure. I’m ready to prove these people right."
