While rumours may be circulating that Zayn Malik is struggling to maintain his solo career on account of anxiety issues, it doesn't sound like the Bradford-native misses being part of a band.
Opening up about his decision to leave the five-piece at the height of their success, 23-year-old Zayn insists that he knew he was reaching the end of this time with his band mates.
"I just knew it was my time," Zayn explained in a recent interview with Highsnobiety. "I knew I wanted to do something different and start expressing the way I felt about certain things."
Widely considered the quietest member of the band, fans and followers feared that the singer would be the first to call it quits and it seems Zayn picked up on this.
"I know that musicians are seen as one-sided people a lot of the time. But we do have other elements to us as well. I didn't feel good. Do you know what I mean?"
Confident he made the right decision last year, Zayn added: "And if you don't feel good... you need to be able to express what it is that you are. I'm free at last."
And while he knows there is a huge amount of public interest in his life and career, Zayn is unwillingly to feed into the hype.
"I think it's a dangerous road to go down, thinking of yourself as a celebrity, because then you somehow automatically think that label makes you superior to other people," he reasoned.
No regrets, right?
