Zayn Malik has come a long way from his days in One Direction. The once anxious, self-conscious teen is finally growing into his own and taking charge of his life.
Malik sat down with The Sunday Times Style and opened up about how he’s moved past his struggles with mental health and eating disorders.
While in 1D, he took time off from touring due to anxiety and later canceled a solo concert over the summer. But all of that, he says, is in the past.
“I now have no problem with anxiety. It was something I was dealing with [while] in the band.”
On top of dealing with anxiety, Malik also dealt with an eating disorder, which helped him feel “in control” in his life at a time when so much of his life was controlled for him. He explained,
“It was the one area where I could say, ‘No, I’m not eating that.'”
He added,
“Once I got over the control, the eating just came back into place, supernaturally… I came back to the U.K. 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.”
Malik now spends his days making new music and hanging with his supermodel girlfriend, Gigi Hadid. The perfect couple even has cute nicknames for one another.
“I call her Gee, she calls me Zee. There are some other nicknames too, but I’ll keep those private.”
LOL!
Malik also recently surprised Gigi in Paris, well, tried to. She noticed his number switched over to a European one once he got there, but the Vogue model still acted surprised anyway.
Malik is currently working on his second album with a team of women and it’s due out later this year.
