Insiders Fear For Mental Health of Reclusive Former One Direction Star Zayn Malik In Wake of Bandmate Liam Payne’s Death
One Direction star Zayn Malik is top of his former bandmates' watch list after he postponed a tour in the wake of pal Liam Payne's death.
The remaining 1D stars have formed a new Whatsapp group so they can check in on each other, RadarOnline can reveal.
And Zayn is their priority.
A source revealed: "Liam's death has brought into sharp focus just how low someone can sink in almost plain sight and the lads have vowed that they won't let that happen again. Zayn has struggled for years with his well-being and has even admitted that he rarely goes out if he's not feeling too great."
He lives in the US now but he comes from a real blue-collar family back in Bradford – an industrial town in the north of England where his sisters and parents still live and he doesn't get back as often as he'd like.
"They have all agreed to make regular contact with one another from now and Zayn is the top priority due to his vulnerabilities."
Zayn later rescheduled the dates in the US and UK for next year. But the Brit singer has a history of pulling out of live performances, citing anxiety.
Just like Liam, he has been frank about his mental health battles and how he developed an eating disorder as a rebellion against his strict life in the band.
He had announced the rare tour last month, with five dates in the United States and six in the United Kingdom.
The U.S. dates – to San Francisco, Las Vegas, Los Angeles, Washington, D.C. and New York – will be rescheduled for January, Malik said, from their previous dates in October and November.
"Love you all and thank you for your understanding," Malik said.
The crooner has been reclusive in recent years after his high-profile departure from One Direction in 2015 while the group was on tour in Asia. The group broke up a year later.
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He and supermodel Gigi Hadid welcomed a child together back in 2020, almost five years after they became an item but split a year later over claims he had hit the mother of his child.
And he said of the pressures of his life as a global superstar: "Every area of my life was so regimented and controlled it was the one area where I could say, 'No, I'm not eating that.'
"Once I got over the control, the eating just came back into place, super naturally." I came back to the UK and spent some time with my mum and got some TLC, and she cooked me food and I got back in touch, mentally, with a lot of the things I'd lost.
"He pulled out of his first European solo show at Wembley Stadium in the UK capital, saying he was suffering the worst anxiety of his career.
He said it was during his 1D days that his issues were at their worst.
"I now have no problem with anxiety. It was something I was dealing with in the band."
And he said it has helped break down barriers and stigmas which often stop someone speaking to other people about their mental health.
"People saw strength in that, and they didn't seem to expect it from a guy, but they expect it from a female, which to me is crazy.
"People are often afraid to admit difficulties, but I don't believe that there should be a struggle with anything that's the truth."
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