Singer-songwriter Zayn Malik shared that he regrets not taking time to appreciate his time with the English-Irish pop boy band One Direction, which was formed in London in 2010, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
“The main thing that I always feel bad about when I look back over my life is not enjoying the band enough,” Malik said on the Zach Sang Show. “I feel like I just took things too seriously, you know? I’m grateful that I’m able to be happier now. I can enjoy things and own my perspective a bit, you know? Like, a glass half full versus it being half empty. That’s my choice.”
Malik surprised the world by leaving the mega-popular British boy band in 2015. A year later, the group, which featured Niall Horan, Liam Payne, Harry Styles, and Louis Tomlinson, announced an extended break.
“I had this, like, teen angst thing going on — chip on my shoulder,” he added. “I’m like, ‘It’s cool to be moody as fuck all the time….’ It’s not. Like, you’re just a loser. Let’s be honest, you know what I mean?”
Since then, he said, he’s learned, “You should be a nice person. You should be somebody that people want to be around and enjoy being in your presence, and you should bring light to peoples’ day instead of being this fuck.”
Part of the growth, he added, came from becoming a father to his daughter Khai, whom he shares with ex-Gigi Hadid. “She just makes me happier,” he said.
“I have so much love in me that I didn’t have before she was born. She laughs all day. She wants to do the silliest things, and she gains so much excitement from it, you know? She just has a wholly fresh perspective on life, [which] had somewhat become grey for me,” he added, as per The Hollywood Reporter.