Zayn Malik Must Quit One Direction Now And For Good

One Direction star Zayn Malik has flown back to the UK to be reunited with fiance Perrie Edwards. Zayn flew home alone and left his bandmates, Harry Styles, Louis Tomlinson, Liam Payne, and Niall Horan, to shoot a commercial without him. One Direction will continue their On the Road Again Tour without Zayn, who will miss the bands shows in Manila and Jakarta.

According to the Guardian, One Direction’s spokesperson released a short statement explaining Zayn Malik’s return to the UK.

“Zayn has signed off with stress and is flying back to the UK to recuperate. The band wish him well and will continue with their performances in Manila and Jakarta.”

In recent days, Zayn Malik has been the subject of constant press speculation. Zayn’s relationship with his fiance has been put under the microscope after Perrie Edwards was spotted without her engagement ring. Speculation rose to fever pitch after pictures of Zayn, 22, holding hands and seemingly cuddling with another woman outside a nightclub in Phuket, Thailand, appeared online.

Zayn and his bandmates were put together during the 2010 season of Simon Cowell’s reality TV show, The X-Factor, and have rarely been out of the public eye since. One Direction’s touring schedule is relentless. They finished their last world tour in October 2014, and they have completed just 16 of 80 shows on their latest tour. The current tour is scheduled to run until October 31.

The pressure of touring for Zayn Malik and his pals is relentless, and as this week shows, they rarely get a private moment. At various times, members of the band, including Zayn, have spoken out about the pressures of touring. It is thought that Zayn finds touring especially difficult because the demands placed on both he and Little Mix star Perrie puts a lot of pressure on their relationship. The couple even had to postpone their wedding because of the pressures of work.

The Mirror reports that a source close to Zayn Malik told the Sun about Zayn’s struggles with fandom.

“Zayn finds it tougher than the rest of his band-mates dealing with fame. Having his every movement scrutinized causes great anxiety and the pictures which surfaced with the fan yesterday was the final straw. He did nothing wrong but the amount of criticism he received was simply too much. He needs to get away.”

This week saw more pressure on Zayn when authorities in the Philippines demanded that Malik and Louis Tomlinson paid a “drugs bond” before being allowed to enter the country. This was because footage of Louis and Zayn smoking a joint was leaked to the internet last year, and because of rumors about substance abuse when Zayn was ill last year.

Zayn Malik has previously spoken out about the difficulty he has coping with fame, and these latest episodes will do little to ease the stress of a young man who is showing signs of buckling under the pressure. It is widely recognized that high achievers and creative people are susceptible to mental illness, and Zayn Malik shows signs that he could be susceptible.

There have been rumors that Zayn would like to quit One Direction in the past, and the band’s contract with Simon Cowell’s SyCo is believed to expire at the end of the year. Zayn has recently been working in the studio with his friend Naughty Boy, and it is believed that some collaborations between the two will be on Naughty Boy’s new album. All indications were that Zayn enjoyed the process and had fun doing this.

Zayn Malik is a talented young man. He has a future in music without One Direction. He should quit One Direction now for the sake of his mental health. Zayn should take a break to reconnect with his fiance, take a break from life under the microscope, and to recover from the intolerable pressures he has suffered through the last five years. Zayn Malik cannot recover in a few days or weeks — this process takes months or even years. Zayn cannot do this whilst he is a member of One Direction.

No one wants to see Zayn Malik become the latest member of the 27 club.

[Photo by Christopher Polk/Getty Images]