One Direction fans on the effects of Zayn Malik’s exit

Top Stories

UAE announces 2-month grace period for residence visa violators

UAE announces fee refund for tax service charges from August 1

Paid parking in Dubai: Residents face up to Dh4,000 extra yearly costs when new rates kick in

One Direction fans have had a lot to process in the course of one week. Even as we write this, the headline-grabbing Zayn Malik saga continues to unravel.

By Enid Parker (senior Sub Editor)

Published: Thu 2 Apr 2015, 9:19 PM

Last updated: Mon 1 May 2023, 10:06 AM

One Direction fans have had a lot to process in the course of one week. Even as we write this, the headline-grabbing Zayn Malik saga continues to unravel.

Malik, who caused millions of ‘Directioners’ around the world to plunge into mourning (mostly via social media of course) when he announced his departure from the band last week, is currently patching up his shambles of a personal life (he was pictured house hunting in England with fiancé Perrie Edwards and recently flew out of the country on a private jet with her) and was also reportedly working on solo material with producer Naughty Boy. We wonder if the 22-year-old will ever be able to take a break from the spotlight - which he expressed a desire for in the statement released post his exit from the band.

Earlier this week, producer Naughty Boy dropped a demo called I Won’t Mind on Twitter, which initial reports suggested was Zayn’s first solo track; however, the Daily Mail reported that according to a source close to Zayn, the track was actually an old One Direction demo that did not get picked up for the album Four. I Won’t Mind was eventually taken down from Naughty Boy’s Twitter after a backlash from fans.

Naughty Boy also got involved in a war of words with Louis Tomlinson, who accused him of “winding up” fans of One Direction after he retweeted a video saying “Zaughty will rise”, a reference to working with Zayn.

Needless to say the future of One Direction is quite unpredictable, but despite fans’ continued outpouring of grief, given the current state of affairs it appears highly unlikely that Malik will ever return. Poised for a solo career, it remains to be seen if the reserved yet doubtless talented singer will manage to emulate the success of former boyband stars like Robbie Williams and Justin Timberlake.

Meanwhile, fans in the UAE are gearing up for the big One Direction concert at Rugby Sevens stadium on Saturday, April 4. Diehard ‘Directioners’ lapped up the tickets when they went on sale last year, with many shelling out as much as Dhs1000 just to be closer to their idols on stage. But are fans just as excited to see the quartet of Harry Styles, Niall Horan, Louis Tomlinson and Liam Payne as they were to see the original line-up? Or are they feeling cheated?

City Times caught up with some local fans to gauge the prevailing atmosphere.

CT readers respond to a ‘trimmed’ down version of One Direction in Dubai:

“Zayn always struggled with being on the road. He’s a homebody. He wanted nothing more than to sit in his house and spray paint and draw and do art, and I think this explosion that happened to him - which was something none of them ever predicted - but I think he was the one who struggled with it the most. And being away, being on the road, being away from his girlfriend I think finally just got to him, and I think he said, ‘I’m done.’

- Morgan Spurlock, director of One Direction documentary This Is Us, to HuffPost Live