One Direction was first plunged into crisis last week when pictures emerged of Zayn Malik cosying up to tattooed blonde Lauren Richardson in Phuket, Thailand.
He was granted a leave of absence from the band's On The Road tour for 'stress' as he flew back to the UK for crisis talks with fiancee Perrie Edwards before the 22-year-old announced on Wednesday that he had decided to leave the group for good.
And while fans are heartbroken, Lauren's father David admitted to MailOnline at the family home in Walthamstow, east London today that 'this is the worst case scenario'.