Zayn Malik has finally opened up about his real reasons for leaving One Direction.
The 30-year-old singer was part of the boyband who were put together by Simon Cowell on The X Factor and came third in the competition back in 2010.
The group went on to become one of the best-selling boybands of all time, selling over 70 million records worldwide. They received seven Brit Awards, seven American Music Awards, six Billboard Music Awards, and four MTV Video Music Awards, among others thanks to their hit tracks like Live While We're Young, Little Things and What Makes You Beautiful.
In 2015, Zayn revealed that he was leaving the band and two years later, remaining members Harry Styles, Liam Payne, Niall Horan and Louis Tomlinson also went on indefinite hiatus.
Speaking on the Call Her Daddy podcast in a rare interview, Zayn revealed his real reason for leaving the band explaining that he "selfishly" wanted to get "ahead of the curve".
"There was a lot of politics going on, certain people were doing certain things, some people didn’t want to 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 going to get out of here, I think this is done,'" he admitted.
"I selfishly wanted to be the first person to go and make my own record. I wanted to jump the gun for the first time, I’m the passive dude but when it comes to music and my business, I’m serious about it, I’m competitive and I wanted to be the first to go and do my own thing.
"There was obviously underlying issues within our friendships too, we'd been together everyday for five years and we got sick of each other," Zayn added.
At the time of his departure from the band, Zayn told fans: “My life with One Direction has been more than I could ever have imagined. But, after five years, I feel like it is now the right time for me to leave the band."
He went on to kickstart his solo career, releasing tracks like Still Got Time, PILLOWTALK, Better and collaborating with Taylor Swift on their contribution to the Fifty Shades of Grey soundtrack with their single I Don't Wanna Live Forever.
