Zayn Malik On Why He Really Left One Direction

Zayn Malik sat down for the first time in 6 years for an in depth chat on the Call Her Daddy podcast, and shared the REAL reason he was first to bail on One Direction. He said being together every day for five years was draining and took a toll on their friendship. “There were 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.”

When it was obvious that things were going downhill, he wanted to be the first out the door. “I was like, ‘I’m just going to get out of here, I think this is done and I just seen it,'” he said. “And I completely selfishly wanted to be the first person to go and make my own record if I’m being completely honest with you. I was like, ‘I’m going to jump the gun here for the first time.'”

Speaking of that…his new single, “Love Like This,” drops next Friday. He also covered that incident with Yolanda Hadid and co-parenting with Gigi Hadid.