In a revelation that is sure to devastate One Direction fans, Zayn Malik said he “never really wanted” to be in the British boy band. The 23-year-old crooner admitted he wanted to leave his bandmates – Harry Styles, Louis Tomlinson, Liam Payne and Niall Horan – from the first year.

In his first on-camera interview since quitting One Direction in March, 2015, Malik explained to Beat 1’s Zane Lowe why he left the super popular group.

“I think I kind of always wanted to go, from the first year really,” he said, adding, “I never really wanted to be there in the band. I just gave it a go because it was there at that time.”

Malik, Styles, Payne, Horan and Tomlinson were thrusted to form One Direction when they joined the UK “X Factor” in 2010. They auditioned individually but when they failed to progress to the “Boys” category, they were put together to form a five-member boyband. They finished third in the series.

Although the group earned him and the boys worldwide fame and success, Malik said it wasn’t just for him. He “instantly realised” that he didn’t like to be in One Direction when he felt he couldn’t contribute to it.

“I couldn’t give my opinion on this or that because it didn’t fit the grain of what we were or what we represented,” Malik said.

His departure from the group was a shock to their tween fans, but the other boys “kind of knew” that he wasn’t happy because their music was different from what he wanted. They still attempted to make him stay. Nevertheless, his mind was made up. He didn’t want to last another minute doing music that he didn’t want anymore.

He recently admitted to Billboard that he has no contact with the rest of the One Direction boys, but not for the lack of trying. He apparently tried to remain friends with them, but they did not return his calls.

Earlier this week, Malik gave a “thumbs up” to the retweet of Tomlinson’s image of his new son on Twitter. He did not comment but just silently liked his former colleague’s new fatherhood role.

Malik is set to release his first solo single, “Pillow Talk,” on Friday. He is also preparing his debut album, which will have “about 17 to 18 songs.”


YouTube/Associated Press

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