Zayn Malik is re-opening the curtain to his life for the first time in six years.
Malik, 30, discussed his exit from One Direction in 2015, mental health and his 2-year-old daughter Khai, whom he shares with ex-girlfriend Gigi Hadid, on the “Call Her Daddy” podcast Wednesday.
The “Pillow Talk” singer has largely remained private, which he told host Alex Cooper was due to feeling “so overexposed in the band” when he was younger.
Malik is finally ready to enter back into the spotlight after living a quiet life on a farm in Pennsylvania. He’s also been recording new music.
Zayn Malik says his daughter Khai has given him confidence to re-enter spotlight
Fatherhood has changed Malik in terms of his future prospects in the entertainment industry and embracing “dad jokes.”
“Since I’ve had my daughter, the main thing (on) my mind is trying to be a good example for her. That’s why I’m even doing this interview,” he shared. “I used to get a lot of anxiety around having a conversation like this, and I want her to look at me and be like, ‘Yo, my dad’s doing this!'”
Zayn Malik says One Direction was getting ‘sick of each other’ by the time he left
Malik was the first band member to leave One Direction, a choice he said he knew he would make “for a minute.” “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 so I just got ahead of the curve,” he said. “Selfishly, I wanted to be the first person to make my own record.”
One Direction − formed on “X Factor UK” in 2010 by judge Simon Cowell − consisted of Malik, Niall Horan, Liam Payne, Harry Styles and Louis Tomlinson.
“They just said, ‘Oh yeah, you can be the mysterious one.’ That wasn’t necessarily my personality, I’m just chill,” Malik said of the formation. “I know that a lot of people have high-energy personalities, and it’s just not the way I am.”
When the 30-year-old decided to leave the band, he said, “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.”
Today, he says he’s able to look back in a “much fonder light,” describing his time in the band as “fun” and “amazing.”
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Zayn Malik is ‘still nervous’ to return to the stage
Malik is gearing up to release a new single, “Love Like This,” on July 21. During the podcast episode, he revealed he’s spent a lot of time recording music and is ready to return to the stage. The “Entertainer” singer has not toured as a solo artist and only performed live three times in 2016.
“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 have something to give and I want to get on stage and be there again and feel that,” he said.
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Malik added that he feels encouraged knowing his fans have “always been supportive.”
“They’re always just like, ‘We’re here, we’ve got you,'” he said. “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.”
