The singer also explained that his departure from the group had nothing to do with the rumors circulating that he had cheated on his then-fiancée Perrie Edwards, adding:
"The two things never really coincided in my mind. Obviously, publicly, that's the way it worked, because it worked well for the purpose. Them two stories looked good together side by side. Stories came out because we were in Thailand, and we were out and about. If we were out in Australia, if we were out in India, the same thing would have happened. It was just at a peak where the fame was intrusive and invasive. It wasn't because of that that I left—that was just a contributing factor to everything. I'd already made my mind up before that."
And he definitely wanted to clear up one huge misconception about his breakupwith the Little Mix lady, stressing that he did NOT end their engagement through text:
"If you could word it exactly this way, I'd be very appreciative. I have more respect for Perrie than to end anything over text message. I love her a lot, and I always will, and I would never end our relationship over four years like that. She knows that, I know that, and the public should know that as well. I don't want to explain why or what I did, I just want the public to know I didn't do that."
While Zayn shattered that speculation, he also shattered the dreams of any shippers who hope for romantic relationships between the remaining boys in the band, saying:
"There's no secret relationships going on with any of the band members. It's not funny, and it still continues to be quite hard for them. They won't naturally go put their arm around each other because they're conscious of this thing that's going on, which is not even true. They won't do that natural behavior. But it's just the way the fans are. They're so passionate, and once they get their head around an idea, that's the way it is regardless of anything. If it wasn't for that passionate, like, almost obsession, then we wouldn't have the success that we had."
And even though 1D dropped their first album without him, the musician had stillshown his support for his former bandmates' new music.
But that doesn't necessarily mean he prefers to listen to their tunes for fun. He confessed that One Direction's music probably won't show up on his "Recently Played" playlist:
"That's not music that I would listen to. Would you listen to One Direction, sat at a party with your girl? I wouldn't. To me, that's not an insult, that's me as a 22-year-old man. As much as I was in that band, and I loved everything that we did, that's not music that I would listen to. I don't think that's an offensive statement to make."
Now that he's on his own, Perrie's ex finally feels free to express himself musically, exclaiming:
"To me, it's like I stood in front of a canvas for about five years, and someone said like, ‘You're not allowed to paint on this canvas.' I've got the paint, I've got the f*cking brushes, and I can't get it on there. Now someone removed the plastic and was like, ‘Alright, you can now paint.'"
However, Directioners, this new move towards independence doesn't mean he's totally done with the famous foursome. In fact, he revealed that he had actually recently reconnected with Liam, saying:
"It was the first time I'd spoken to him since I left the band, and I rung him, and he wanted to talk. He said that he didn't understand it at the time, but he now fully gets why I had to do what I did. He understands that it's my thing, that I had to do that, and that basically he wants to meet up and sit down and have a good chat in person, and he wants to do some music and work on some stuff aside from being in the band, which we always wanted to do anyway."
It seems like Zayn is finally happy now that he can make the kind of music he wants.