"I want to know if he regrets it."
One Direction remain one of the most famous and influential boy bands in British pop history.
The group originally comprised Louis Tomlinson, Harry Styles, Zayn Malik, Niall Horan, and Liam Payne.
Each of the five members auditioned as solo artists on The X Factor in 2010.
All of them failed to progress past the Bootcamp stage of the competition.
However, the judges allowed them to form a boy band that became One Direction.
Under Simon Cowell’s mentorship, the group finished the competition in third place and emerged as one of the most successful groups in music history.
However, in 2015, Zayn announced his decision to leave the band.
A year later, One Direction announced that they were taking an indefinite hiatus.
On October 9, 2025, Louis appeared on Steven Bartlett’s podcast, The Diary of a CEO.
During the interview, he addressed Zayn’s exit from the band.
Louis said: “I was fuming. It’s not something Zayn and I have discussed enough.
“It goes back to loyalty for me, and selfishly, I wished he’d had a conversation with me first.
“On the last tour that Zayn did, Harry, Liam, and Niall had their own dressing rooms. And me and Zayn shared.
“That was a testament to the relationship. So, I felt a little hard done-by.
“I thought that we had a relationship where he could have had that conversation with me.
“If he’d told me, I would have tried to tell him to stay.
“I think that’s one of the reasons why he didn’t – he knew I was very opinionated.”
Steven then asked Louis: “So, how did you find out?”
Louis replied: “The night before we found out, everything was normal.
“The next morning, we had a shoot and we found out that he wasn’t coming.
“Zayn, I always rated him for this. If he didn’t want to do something, he just wouldn’t do it.
“That’s probably why he left the band.
“That’s what I admire about him. Because if I was in the same situation, I would have probably put six plasters on it.
“I want to know if he regrets it. He’s been incredibly successful and he’s done really well.
“But he must miss it. He must do, because I know Zayn really well.
“Zayn has the kind of energy I do, in the way that sometimes, this whole job can just be a little fussy.
“When you’re in a band, you can share that well.
“There must be times when he misses that comfort, for sure.
“I’ve met up with him a couple of times recently, but it’s not something we’ll often discuss, but there’ll be a time for that, I’m sure.
“I would like to have those conversations with him, but it absolutely crushed me.
“I was devastated because it felt, ‘Is this the beginning of the end of the band?’
“But also, it was like, ‘This is my best mate in the band’.
“So, I’d lost a friend and someone in the band.”
Although while working together, Zayn and Louis won the hearts of millions, they did not always share the warmest personal relationship.
In 2015, the pair shared a tense exchange on social media, where Zayn told Louis directly:
“Remember when you had a life and stopped making b****y comments about mine?”
However, the pair have appeared to share a closer bond in recent months, with Louis seen at one of Zayn’s concerts.
It was also recently reported that Louis and Zayn were looking to front a US road trip series for Netflix.
One Direction would never reunite fully onstage after Zayn’s departure.
In October 2024, Liam tragically passed away after falling from a hotel balcony in Argentina. He was 31 years old.
In his interview with Steven, Louis also spoke at length about the impact of Liam’s death.
One Direction’s choreographer, Paul Roberts, also died in September 2025.
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