Years ago, Zayn Malik was engaged to Perrie Edwards of Little Mix — in fact, they were together when he left One Direction — so it’s no surprise that fans asked Zayn’s former bandmate Liam Payne about Little Mix member Jesy Nelson‘s recent decision to leave the group. However, he turned his answer into a subtle dig at Zayn.
In a statement on December 14, Jesy said she was leaving the group due to the toll it’d taken on her mental health. But when Liam was asked about her departure during a TikTok Live session, he joked, “Someone Zayn’d out!”
But Liam quickly backtracked, saying, “No, let’s be serious about this. It’s always sad at this moment in time, when bands get into that sort of thing. And, I mean, having been there myself, I feel like Zayn had left for pretty much the same reasons, actually, in a weird way.”
“But, you know, I wish Jesy all the best. I wish the girls all the best with carrying on as a three[-piece],” he continued. “It’s a tough time; I do feel for them because everyone’s watching in that little fish bowl at the moment, and no one really understands what’s going on or how it feels for some people.”
Like One Direction, Little Mix was formed on the U.K. version of X Factor and wildly successful, especially in the U.K., where they scored a string of number-ones, best-selling albums and worldwide sales of more than 50 million.
Zayn and Perrie broke up a few months after he left 1D; now he and longtime girlfriend Gigi Hadid are parents to a baby daughter.
Liam talking about the situation regarding Jesy leaving #LittleMix pic.twitter.com/sOYL6fqygJ
— COAC3X’ (@dothelarryshake) December 15, 2020
By Andrea Dresdale
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