Zayn Malik Talks Why He Really Left One Direction & What It Was Like Towards the End

Zayn Malik really opened up about his time in One Direction and leaving the mega-popular group.

The 30-year-old singer shared about a lot of aspects of his life over the last few years in his first interview in six years, on the Call Her Daddy podcast with Alex Cooper.

Keep reading to see what he said…

“Certain people were doing certain things. Certain people didn’t want to sign contracts. So I knew something was happening [and] I just got ahead of the curve,” Zayn shared about what it was like before he left.

“I completely, selfishly wanted to be the first person to go and make my own record, if I’m being completely honest with you,” he said about leaving 1D. “I was like, ‘I’m gonna jump the gun here for the first time.’ I’m a passive dude, but when it comes to my music and my business, I’m serious about it and I’m competitive. So I wanted to be the first to go and do my own thing.”

Zayn also shared that the group started to get sick of each other after being together all day every day for so long.

“We’d been together everyday for five years and we got sick of each other if I’m being completely honest,” the singer said. “I look back on it now in a much fonder light than I would have as I just left.”

However, now he’s able to look back on his time in the band and it’s not all bad.

“Now I look back at it like it was a rush, you know? It was fun and it was something that was amazing, so of course I wasn’t going to understand it. It’s not something I expected in my life, but it was definitely fun for sure.”

You can check out Zayn‘s full episode of Call Her Daddy on Spotify now!

In case you missed it, Zayn has signed a new record deal and is gearing up to drop a new song later this month.

“It’s just a summer jam. It’s a good vibe. It just feels like summer,” he told Alex Cooper of the upcoming standalone single, “Love Like This.”