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One Direction News: Zayn Malik Book Debuts, Harry Styles ‘Dunkirk’ Performance Draws Praise

By Clare Mulligan
Published on: 00:03 PST, Nov 1, 2016

There’s no shortage of One Direction news. Zayn Malik’s book Zayn was released today, Harry Styles’ Dunkirk performance was praised by a stuntman on set, and Liam Payne solo rumors are swirling after the singer posted a low-quality new track to Instagram.

Although Zayn Malik left One Direction in early 2015 and has had a relatively short solo career so far, the performer has still released a novel-length autobiography about his music, anxiety, and history with One Direction fellow bandmates Harry Styles, Liam Payne, Niall Horan, and Louis Tomlinson.

Zayn, which was released today, included comments that implied that being in One Direction may have given Malik an eating disorder. Much coverage of the supposed eating disorder, including this article on Billboard, was heavily misleading and lead to Malik’s comments being misconstrued. In Zayn, Malik writes about struggling to find time and motivation to eat during the hectic schedule demanded of One Direction.

“When I look back at the images of myself from around November 2014, before the final tour, I can see how ill I was. I realized that I wasn’t eating as much just down to the amount of work that we were doing… our schedule was kind of crazy so we were all over the place.”

While the quotation certainly seems troubling, Malik made sure to explain that he was not actually suffering from disordered eating, and that the issue is behind him since leaving One Direction.

“I don’t think I ever had an eating disorder. I was never diagnosed with one of them.”

Unfortunately, many news outlets are ignoring Malik’s direct quote stating that he did not have an eating disorder, and are reporting incorrectly.

While fans may be expecting Malik to diss One Direction in Zayn, the singer actually keeps it positive about his former bandmates. In fact, Malik writes that he is incredibly proud of what he achieved during his time in One Direction, as reported in E! News.

“I can honestly say I’m proud of a lot of stuff from the One Direction days. I’m not sure people realize that, but I am. I’ve got the memorabilia – the platinum discs we received with every album—all over my house. I have a wall dedicated to displaying them. One Direction was an incredible experience in its own right, and it’s a part of me, an integral part of my history, and I’m never going to deny that aspect of my life.”

In an image from Zayn, Malik shows off his wall of One Direction memorabilia and awards. While a One Direction reunion is probably not in the cards, it’s heartening to know that Malik will not be trashing them for his own personal gain.

Malik also implied that he is still on good terms with his former One Direction bandmates. Zayn revealed that he is still talking to some of them, though he did not specify whether he meant Harry Styles, Niall Horan, Liam Payne, or Louis Tomlinson, with whom he previously had a public Twitter fight. It’s likely that Zayn has been in contact with Niall Horan, as he praised his new song, “This Town.”

In other One Direction news, Harry Styles’ Dunkirk performance is already drawing raves almost a year in advance. Styles, who is making his true acting debut with Dunkirk (after all, music videos and iCarly don’t exactly count), was a surprise casting decision by director Christopher Nolan.

According to IMDb, Harry Styles’ Dunkirk character is named Alex, but not much else is known about the role.

Movie stuntman Riley Hooper, who worked with Styles on the Dunkirk set, praised the One Direction singer’s performance in an article for Xposé.

“I got to see Harry Styles which was fun. Was he doing well? Actually, he was doing really well. It’s sort of surprising when you hear that someone like that has actually got pretty good chops. He was super cool, in fact. Nice genuine guy.”

Lastly, fans looking for more One Direction news can also enjoy a new Liam Payne solo song.

Liam Payne posted a track to Instagram, tagging several music producers in the caption to imply that he had worked with them on the song.

The song has an R&B flavor and features Payne crooning in falsetto over moody atmospheric chords and a rhythmic drumbeat. The song also features Payne singing lyrics that would not likely be found in a One Direction song.

“All these other b*tches here be trippin’… I wanna make love to you.”

Hopefully if Payne drops more R&B music, it will do better on the charts than Malik’s attempt, which failed to produce a successful single after “Pillowtalk.”

With Liam Payne’s new song, Harry Style’s Dunkirk performance, and Zayn Malik’s book all making headlines, it’s clear that One Direction news will continue to dominate the news cycle for months to come.

[Featured Image by Jason Merritt/Getty Images]

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