Zayn Malik has done his first sit-down interview in six years. Here are 10 things we learnt.

Zayn Malik has had his first interview in six years. 

Alex Cooper's Call Her Daddy podcast today released an hour-long discussion with the former One Direction member, the newest guest to sit down for a tell-all conversation. 

In the past, guests have included Priyanka Chopra, Hailey Bieber, Christina Aguilera and Cole Sprouse.

Watch a snippet of the Call Her Daddy podcast episode featuring Zayn Malik. Post continues after video. 

Malik was the first one to leave the boy band in 2015, after four years of non-stop touring and album releases. The singer has opened up about his time in One Direction, his monumental rise to fame and what his quiet life looks like now. 

Here are 10 things we learned from the Call Her Daddy podcast.

Why Zayn Malik moved to the quiet suburbs of Pennsylvania. 

It seems almost unbelievable that the singer would leave a flashy life in New York City behind for the quiet suburbs of Pennsylvania, but after three years in the Big Apple he decided to make the move. 

He confessed that after visiting the state a few times with his ex-girlfriend Gigi Hadid, he "fell in love with it".

"I just wanted to take a break from the busy city because I was living in New York for three years at the time," he explained.

"It just got a bit overwhelming, going out your door to just craziness all the time.

"So I just wanted a bit more of a surrounding that I'm used to, like where I grew up in Bradford in the UK... I feel like I just fit in around here than I do at the trendy spots," he continued. 

His "impoverished" hometown taught him to be "street smart".

Despite moving to Pennsylvania to feel like he is closer to home, the singer acknowledges the wealth disparity is not comparable. 

"Bradford is not obviously like Pennsylvania in terms of, you know, like the wealth and the way that it's like, you know, looked after and taken care of. It's an impoverished community," he explained. 

"But I'm very grateful for where I grew up because it definitely shaped and molded a lot of identity for me," Malik continued. 

Zayn Malik says he was mislabeled as "mysterious" in One Direction.

While in One Direction with Harry Styles, Niall Horan, Liam Payne and Louis Tomlinson, the group were typecast into roles Malik felt pressured to abide by. 

"They just said, 'Oh yeah, you can be the mysterious one,'" he recalled. 

"That wasn’t necessarily my personality, I’m just chill. I know that a lot of people have high-energy personalities and it’s just not the way I am."

He joked about his 'brooding' facial expressions in photos from the time, saying he simply did not know what else to do with his face.

Zayn Malik felt "overexposed" in One Direction.

The singer also confessed to feeling "overexposed" when he was part of the boy band when they reached global success. It's part of the reason he prefers to keep a low profile now.

"That's why I took the time that I have to, like, not even necessarily do interviews," Malik explained.

"I feel like we were so overexposed in the band that like, it takes a bit of time for you naturally to progress as a human and give something else that is interesting that you have to say."

Image: Getty.

A crush on triplet sisters and an interaction with a music teacher led to him auditioning for the X Factor UK.

Growing up, Malik learned to sing, record and write in the comfort of his bedroom. 

"I got into poetry and things like that because I was in my room a lot," he said. "And I didn't like to be in [outside] environments [because] it was just a bit too much, I was always more reserved."

He learned he could sing when he tried out for choir... which he only joined so he could be around his crushes.

"I actually fancied these three girls that were in choir and they were triplets," he recalled. "And that's why I just was like, 'I'm gonna be quiet so I can hang around these girls."

His love for music intensified from there. 

By the time he was a teenager, he was attending a performing arts high school and auditioned for a school production for Grease. Malik said he was the only one who could sing.

"My music teacher recommended I get singing lessons and... then she said, 'I think you should go on X Factor. I think you've got a good chance.'"

Listen to this episode of The Spill, Mamamia's daily entertainment podcast. 

Zayn Malik wanted to be the "first" to leave One Direction. 

The singer admitted he "selfishly" wanted to be the first one to strike out on their own and leave the boy band. 

After realising there were things going on in the background, where other members didn't want to sign new contracts, Malik took it as a sign that he needed to get out. 

"I think I'd known for a minute," he said. "There was a lot of politics going on, certain people were doing certain things [and] certain people didn't want to sign contracts so I knew something was happening so I just got ahead of the curb.

"I completely selfishly wanted to be the first person to make their own record... I was like, 'I'm going to jump the gun here for the first time. I'm passive but when it comes to my music and my business, I'm serious about it and I'm competitive. I wanted to be the first to go and do my own thing."

After asking his parents to return home to regroup, his decision to leave was then final.

He then moved to London as he was "on a mission" to create music. 

After Cooper suggested it must have been stressful to break out in a solo career, Malik agreed. 

"It's a very different experience standing by yourself on stage," he said, and "a whole different workload" when performing entire songs by himself rather than splitting up verses between band members. 

"I just kinda had to make an adjustment," he said. 

"I started practicing a lot more, singing a lot more [and] making sure I could sing [an entire song] for three minutes."

The One Direction members started to get "sick of each other". 

Malik shared that being together for five years had created issues between him, Horan, Styles, Tomlinson and Payne. 

"There was obviously underlying issues within our friendships too. We'd been together every day for five years and we got sick of each other, if I'm being completely honest," he said. "We were close, we done crazy things with each other that nobody else in the world will ever understand or have them experiences that we've shared together."

Malik continued; "I look back on it now in a much fonder light than I would have as I've just left... They were great experiences, I had great times with them but we just run our course."

Image: Getty.

How Zayn Malik made his music different from One Direction. 

In Malik's mind, the music One Direction created was "clean cut" with no real depth. 

"Creatively, I just wanted to talk about things that were a bit more real," he reflected. 

"Like authentic to situations that I was going through in my life. Like obviously certain things that we would talk about in the band were always clean cut, just glazing over the top. [There wasn't] really any depth or any stories to what's going on.

"I just wanted to show people that I had a bit more depth."

Zayn Malik on anxiety. 

The singer admitted to having to deal with anxiety before every performance. 

"The nature of our job, like what we're doing in the band and the situation of being on stage in front of thousands of people... I think it's a really normal place to experience anxiety.

"But we overcome it and certain things in life can change your perspective on things."

Zayn Malik on being a father. 

The 30-year-old singer had his daughter Khai two years ago with ex-girlfriend Gigi Hadid. Malik and the supermodel dated on and off for six years between November 2015 and October 2021. 

According to Harpers Bazaar, the pair have split on "amicable terms," after Malik pleaded no contest to four counts of harassment against Hadid and her mother, Yolanda Hadid. 

While talking with Cooper, he reflected on what his personal goals are for raising his daughter, who he has 50 per cent of the time.

"Since I've had my daughter, the main thing in my mind is trying to be a good example for her," he expressed. "That’s why I'm even doing this interview. I used to get a lot of anxiety around having a conversation like this, and I want her to look at me and be like, 'Yo, my dad's doing this!'"

Zayn Malik and Gigi Hadid do not share photos of their daughter on social media. Image: Instagram @gigihadid.

Malik said Khai had 'brought colour back' to his life.

"I feel like we get to a certain point in adult life where everything is kind of vague and grey and boring, and she's brought that colour back."

The singer also shared that he left New York City because of the paparazzi and loads of fans who asked him for photos. 

"I didn't want her to have to be exposed to that because she didn't choose it," he shared.

"It was a choice that I made so I was like, 'We need to get out of here so that she can have some chance of a normal childhood'."

Feature Image: Spotify/Getty.

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