How did Louis Tomlinson feel when Zayn Malik left One Direction?
In a new interview on the Diary of a CEO podcast, Tomlinson, 33, opened up about how he learned about Malik’s exit from One Direction and what he thinks the “Pillowtalk” singer, 32, might “miss” about their time in the “Story of My Life” band.
Prior to Malik’s departure, Tomlinson said on the podcast, the members of One Direction “always said” they would never become “the type of band that would have all their own individual dressing rooms.” However, that changed at a certain point.
“On the last tour Zayn [participated in], Harry [Styles] had his own dressing room, Liam [Payne] did, Niall [Horan] did, and me and Zayn shared,” explained Tomlinson, noting that he “felt a little bit hard done by” Malik’s sudden exit. “I felt like, not to throw these boys under the bus, but let me know.”
“I thought that we had a relationship where he could have had that conversation with me. In reflection, and he hasn’t told me this, we’ll see when I chat to him about it, but I think if he told me, I would have tried to tell him to stay,” continued the “Walls” singer. “And I think that’s probably one of the reasons why he didn’t, ‘cause he knew I was always very opinionated.”
Tomlinson then recalled finding out about Malik’s March 25, 2015 exit — which came after they smoked a “joint” together at the end of a “normal” night. “He was cool, wasn’t like in a bad mood or anything like that, you know. ‘Good night, lad.’ And then the next morning I woke up, we had a shoot with like Coca-Cola for some sponsor thing. And we found out that he wasn’t coming,” he said.
It wasn’t exactly out of the ordinary for Malik to decide not to show up to something “he didn’t want to do,” said Tomlinson. “That’s probably why he left the band, you know? And that’s what I admire about him because if I was in his same situation I would have probably put six plasters on it just to hope that we can stay playing happy families.”
“I want to know if he regrets it,” added the “Lemonade” performer. “His own personal success has been incredibly successful, and he’s done really really well like that, but he must miss it. Like, he must.”
Tomlinson spoke about knowing Malik “really well” and acknowledged that working as a musician “can just be a little bit fussy.”
Regal
“Now, when you’re in a band, you can share that wealth. Say you’re sat in an interview you’re not enjoying, you just kind of shut up a little bit and let someone else pick up the pieces, and they’ll do that role,” he said. “We could share the things that we didn’t like to do as much. There must definitely be times that he misses the comfort of that for sure.”
These days, Malik’s exit remains a bit of an “elephant in the room” of his relationship with Tomlinson. “I’ve met up with him a couple of times recently, but it’s not often something we’ll discuss. But there’ll be a time for that for sure,” he said. “I would like to have those conversations with them.”
Ultimately, Tomlinson felt “absolutely crushed” by Malik leaving One Direction. “I was devastated because it felt like, ‘Oh, is this the beginning of the end of the band?’ But then also, I’m like, this is like my best mate in the band at the time. I’d lost a friend and someone in the band,” he said.
Dennis Leupold
Earlier this month, Netflix announced Tomlinson and Malik will join forces for a three-part series centering on the two performers as they “embark on a road trip across America in a spontaneous adventure of reconnection, exploration and a lot of laughter,” according to a press release.
The streaming service explained the project — directed by Nicola Marsh, and produced by Campfire Studios — will see the musicians “opening up about life, love, loss and fatherhood.”
