"I felt a little hard done by": Louis Tomlinson opens up about Zayn Malik's departure from One Direction, claims it "crushed" him

Former One Direction member Louis Tomlinson opened up about how he felt when Zayn Malik departed from the pop band. Tomlinson appeared on the October 9 episode of The Diary of a CEO podcast and candidly talked about the band split.

Five years after One Direction’s formation and a series of chart-topping hits, Zayn Malik left the band in March 2015. A year later, the band went into an extended hiatus, and the other four members also prioritized their solo careers.

On Thursday, podcast host Steven Bartlett asked Louis Tomlinson how he reflects on Zayn's decision. The Back to You artist mentioned he wished that Malik had discussed his exit with him, adding that he shared a good bond with the Pillowtalk singer. Tomlinson shared that on the last tour of 1D, he and Zayn Malik shared a dressing room when the other three members had separate dressing rooms.

Highlighting his bond with Zayn Malik, Louis Tomlinson recalled how he felt when Malik departed.

"I felt a little bit hard done by... 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. And I think that's probably one of the reasons why he didn't, cuz he know he knew I was always very opinionated." the singer added.

Further in the interview, Tomlinson said he wanted to know if Zayn Malik regretted it, not in terms of his personal success, but because he "must miss it." The former 1D member stated that he and Malik could share the things that they didn't like. He said Malik must have missed that "comfort." Louis Tomlinson continued that he was "devastated" when the Dusk Till Dawn singer walked out of the band.

"But it crushed me, man. It absolutely crushed me. I was devastated because it felt like, 'Oh, is this the beginning of the end of the band?'' But then also, I'm like like this is like my best mate in the band at the time."

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Louis Tomlinson recalled the night before Zayn Malik's exit from One Direction

During the interview, the host of The Diary of a CEO asked Louis Tomlinson how he found out about Zayn Malik's exit from the quintet. The We Made It artist shared that the night before they found out, everything had been normal. He recounted "having a joint" with Malik and added that before he left, everything seemed normal. Tomlinson continued:

"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... If he didn't want to do something, he literally wouldn't do it.... I think, well then, that's probably why he left the band, you know, and that's what I admire about him, because if I were in his same situation, I would have probably put six plasters on it just to hope that we can stay playing happy families."

Elsewhere in the podcast, Louis Tomlinson discussed his solo career. He also reflected on how "difficult" it was for him to cope with the death of his former bandmate, Liam Payne.

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Now, it seems like Zayn Malik and Louis Tomlinson will be seen together again. Netflix recently announced that the two former 1D members will collaborate on a series, where the two will do a road trip together.

Edited by Anuj Singh Kushwaha