Zayn Malik says One Direction split because they were 'sick of each other'

Even when the night changes, Zayn Malik continues to look back at his time with boy band One Direction with fondness.

In Wednesday's episode of the Call Her Daddy podcast, Malik shed light on the varying reasons behind the band's split in 2015 following five years of superstardom, chalking it up to the politics of it all and the fact that the members — also comprised of Harry Styles, Niall Horan, Louis Tomlinson, and Liam Payne — had admittedly gotten "sick of each other."

When asked when he knew it was time to leave the group, Zayn said, "I think I'd known for a minute," adding, "I don't wanna go into too much detail, but there was a lot of politics going on. Certain people were doing certain things, certain people didn't wanna sign contracts, so I knew something was happening. So I just got ahead of the curve, if I'm being honest with you. I was like, 'I'm just gonna get out of it. I think this is done.'"

Jamie McCarthy/Getty Images Zayn Malik

The "Pillowtalk" singer added that he also "completely selfishly wanted to be the first person to go and make my own record, if I'm being completely honest with you." Malik added, "I was like, 'I'm gonna jump the gun here for the first time.' I'm passive, but when it comes to my music and my business, I'm serious about it and I'm competitive. I wanted to be the first to go and do my own thing."

Malik has released three solo albums, 2016's Mind of Mine, 2018's Icarus Falls, and 2021's Nobody is Listening, since he left the group, which was formed in 2010 by The X Factor judges Simon Cowell, Nicole Scherzinger, and Louis Walsh when the respective artists auditioned as solo acts on the competition series. All of the original members have since embarked on their own solo careers.

Payne previously made headlines for badmouthing members of the group, including Malik, stating that there were "many reasons why I dislike Zayn" and "many reasons why I'll always be on his side" on a podcast interview with Jake Paul. He issued an apology via YouTube this week, calling his initial comments a "scramble to stay relevant" and sharing that he entered rehab to focus on his sobriety.

Christopher Polk/Getty Images One Direction

"A lot of what I said came from the wrong place," Payne said. "I was so angry at what was going on around me and instead of taking a look inwards, I decided to look outwards at everybody else and I took it out on everybody else, which is just wrong." Because of his "own frustrations with my own career and where I kind of landed," he said, "I took shots at everybody else, which is wrong, so obviously I want to apologize for that in the first instance, because that's definitely not me."

Malik added on Call Her Daddy that he appreciates his time in the band, despite how it all ended. "I look back on it now in a much fonder light than I would've, you know, as I'd just left," he said. "There were great experiences. I had great times with them... we just [ran] our course."

You can listen to the full interview below.

Related content:

• New X Factor footage shows how One Direction were really formed — with Liam Payne expected to be 'the leader'

• Liam Payne apologizes for 'cringe' criticism of One Direction, says it was 'scramble to stay relevant'

• One Direction's Niall Horan felt like a prisoner to the 'madness' of fan obsession