One Direction helped Zayn Malik find fame, fortune and a supermodel girlfriend. But he says that if he could go back, he wouldn’t sign up — telling his 17-year-old self: “Don’t do it.”
One Direction helped Zayn Malik find fame, fortune and a supermodel girlfriend. But he says that if he could go back, he wouldn’t sign up — telling his 17-year-old self: “Don’t do it.”
Malik, 23, quit last year after missing several live shows because of stress. This week he revealed he suffered from an eating disorder as well as anxiety during his time with the band, which rose to fame after finishing third on X Factor and signing to Simon Cowell’s Syco label.
Talking to ES Magazine about that time, Malik said: ‘I was very ignorant at 17 — blind beyond my years. I thought going on X Factor meant you won a million pounds and got a contract at the end of it. “And I was like, ‘Shit. All my problems are solved.
I win a million pounds and that’s it. Simple.’ But you don’t think about everything else that goes with it. You’re only 17, your dreams are immature.”
Asked what advice he would give his 17-year-old self, he replied “don’t do it”, but then added: “I would say, ‘Do your research and be a bit more prepared about certain situations before you make a decision.’ ” Asked if he would still have signed up with the knowledge he has now, he said he was grateful for everything he had as a result, “But I probably wouldn’t have [signed] — I would’ve waited a couple more extra years.
Just so I had that time to just get my head around being a famous person. I’ve never been able to have, what’s the word? Anonymity. If I could go back, I’d have a few more years of anonymity.”
Malik, who is dating American model Gigi Hadid, said his family in Bradford kept him grounded. ‘My mum brought me up as a feminist,” he added. “Three sisters, five aunties and a mum — not a hope.”
He also spoke about growing up in the city at the time of the 2001 race riots. Coming from a mixed-race family, he said did not see race, colour or religion and was confused when other people did. He sometimes got into fights, which he said “nine times out of 10 ... were due to racial things”
“I never really dwelled on this in the past, but I do believe it is something that people should know — this is who I am, this is where I’ve come from,” he added.
.“It’s not so much that it hurts — it’s what builds you as a person. What you learn from that. I have an understanding of certain issues.” His Yorkshire upbringing also gave him the culinary skills to impress Hadid. He makes her “steak and potato pie, Sunday roast dinner and Yorkshire pudding. Yeah, she likes a good Yorkshire pudding”.
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| New direction: Zayn Malik Clare Shilland | RCplusN | Courtesy: ES MAG |
Malik, 23, quit last year after missing several live shows because of stress. This week he revealed he suffered from an eating disorder as well as anxiety during his time with the band, which rose to fame after finishing third on X Factor and signing to Simon Cowell’s Syco label.
Talking to ES Magazine about that time, Malik said: ‘I was very ignorant at 17 — blind beyond my years. I thought going on X Factor meant you won a million pounds and got a contract at the end of it. “And I was like, ‘Shit. All my problems are solved.
I win a million pounds and that’s it. Simple.’ But you don’t think about everything else that goes with it. You’re only 17, your dreams are immature.”
Asked what advice he would give his 17-year-old self, he replied “don’t do it”, but then added: “I would say, ‘Do your research and be a bit more prepared about certain situations before you make a decision.’ ” Asked if he would still have signed up with the knowledge he has now, he said he was grateful for everything he had as a result, “But I probably wouldn’t have [signed] — I would’ve waited a couple more extra years.
Just so I had that time to just get my head around being a famous person. I’ve never been able to have, what’s the word? Anonymity. If I could go back, I’d have a few more years of anonymity.”
Malik, who is dating American model Gigi Hadid, said his family in Bradford kept him grounded. ‘My mum brought me up as a feminist,” he added. “Three sisters, five aunties and a mum — not a hope.”
He also spoke about growing up in the city at the time of the 2001 race riots. Coming from a mixed-race family, he said did not see race, colour or religion and was confused when other people did. He sometimes got into fights, which he said “nine times out of 10 ... were due to racial things”
“I never really dwelled on this in the past, but I do believe it is something that people should know — this is who I am, this is where I’ve come from,” he added.
.“It’s not so much that it hurts — it’s what builds you as a person. What you learn from that. I have an understanding of certain issues.” His Yorkshire upbringing also gave him the culinary skills to impress Hadid. He makes her “steak and potato pie, Sunday roast dinner and Yorkshire pudding. Yeah, she likes a good Yorkshire pudding”.
