British singer-songwriter Zayn Malik has finally revealed the reason behind his departure from his former band, One Direction. The artist said that he decided to exit the band due to personal reasons.

Malik told Fader magazine that he chose to go home to his family over staying with his band members.

“I guess I just wanted to go home from the beginning. I was always thinking it,” he said.

The 22-year-old solo artist said that the huge success he had with his bandmates intoxicated him, and it made him think about his future. The singer explained that he felt right about exiting the band when he asked his little cousin about going home.

“Then by the time I decided to go, it just felt right on that day. I woke up on that morning, if I’m being completely honest with you, and was like, ‘I need to go home. I just needed to be me now, because I’ve had enough,’” he said.

The singer continued, “I was with my little cousin at the time -- we were sat in a hotel room -- and I was just,’Should I go home?’ And he was like, ‘If you want to go home, let’s go home.’ So we left.”

Speaking about his experience as a member of One Direction, Malik revealed that he didn’t have the creative freedom he wanted. The artist told the magazine that there was “never” a chance for him to “experiment creatively.”

Malik recalled that whenever he would suggest something, his idea wouldn’t be incorporated in the music that was being created for the band. The singer revealed that he wasn’t creating music, instead, they were performing the “music that was already given” to them.

“There was just a general conception that the management already had of what they want for the band, and I just wasn’t convinced with what we were selling,” he said.

According to him, it felt “weird” that they are were the biggest and most famous boy band in the world but they weren’t really happy about what they’re doing.

In addition to quitting One Direction, Malik also left Simon Cowell’s label Syco, and he announced in July that he has signed a new deal with RCA Records.

Malik posted on his Twitter feed a black-and-white photo of himself happily signing some papers that seemed to be his new contract, and he followed it with another tweet saying, “I guess I never explained why I left, it was for this moment to be given the opportunity to show you who I really am! #realmusic @RCA.” He also wrote on his Twitter feed, “#REALME.”

Later, Malik’s former manager Cowell took to Twitter to congratulate him. “We have been working on this for a while and I am pleased to say congratulations to @Zaynmalik on signing with @RCARecords,” he wrote.

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