“Gutted”: One Direction finally speak out about Zayn’s shock exit

Celebrity

Apr 6, 2015

It's been almost two weeks since Zayn Malik made the shock decision to quit One Direction for good, and his former bandmates are finally speaking out.

Zayn sent millions of 1D fangirls into meltdown when he announced his exit from the band, just days after he had quit the Asian leg of their tour to fly home to the UK to make peace with his fiancée Perrie Edwards.

Niall, Harry, Liam and Louis have had a "tough" time of late, they revealed in an interview with The Sun. Discussing how they have coped, Liam said the last ten days have "probably [been] the toughest since the band was formed."

Liam says the boys are "gutted" with Zayn's decision but they have been doing their best to carry on as normal.

"We're gutted that Zayn chose to leave, but now after a few performances as a four piece, we're feeling confident and are determined to carry on stronger than ever," he admitted.

Less than 24 hours after Zayn first quit the tour, his remaining bandmates had to continue with gigs across Southeast Asia.

Niall says their main motivation for carrying on with the tour and with future music is their legions of fans. "All we want to do is make them proud and return their faith in us with a brilliant tour and an amazing new album," he told the newspaper.

The lads have been taking to social media in recent days to thank their fans for their unending support:

I can see a lot of people thanking us for staying but your the real Heros here thanks for not thinking it's finished

— Liam (@Real_Liam_Payne) March 29, 2015

Been a mad few days and your support has been incredible as per usual ! This in turn Spurs us on to make the best music we possibly can

— Niall Horan (@NiallOfficial) March 26, 2015