He’s become the poster boy for a new generation of more emotionally evolved young men. He talks exclusively to Hermione Eyre about conquering his demons — and taking his girlfriend, Gigi Hadid, home to Bradford.

Zayn Malik’s eyelashes are epic. They ought to have their own Twitter account, like Cara Delevingne’s eyebrows. They are long, matt and untouched by mascara, as I can report with authority from my seat next to this delicately beautiful man on a sofa in a cavernous photo studio just outside Paris. He appeared on set half an hour early and full of enthusiasm (“This coat is sick, man, I love the tailoring”) and pursued, as ever, by paparazzi who had followed him from his hotel, the Four Seasons George V, where he and Gigi Hadid are slumming it during Paris fashion week.

“Zigi” are the pop/fashion power couple of the moment. She has just appeared on her 19th Vogue cover, the inaugural Vogue Arabia (a nod to her father’s Palestinian heritage); he is currently finishing his second solo album and was in the recording studio till 5am this morning. The stakes are high because his first solo single, Pillowtalk, was No 1 in 68 countries. But after his years in One Direction, slogging away at the coalface of teeny pop, he is now his own man and enjoying it. Does he consider Paris fashion week, which he’s ostensibly here for (he sat front row at Balmain to watch Gigi walk), work or pleasure? “I don’t see any difference. I do my work and I have fun while I’m doing it”.

He flew to Paris to surprise Gigi as a romantic gesture. “She didn’t know I was coming,” he says. “I went up to the suite to knock on the door…” Pretending to be room service? “Exactly. But my number had changed to European on her phone, so it wasn’t much of a surprise in the end. She played along with it, though.” Ah, Gigi, such a good sport. “It’s been amazing spending time here with my girlfriend,” he says. “The food is always great here. Steak and mashed potatoes.” Living in LA, he’s missed the carbs. “In LA, you get your fresh fruit and your kale smoothies, but you don’t get yer potatoes.”

He hasn’t lost his Bradford accent, and it makes everything he says sound droll and unpretentious. “Bit raunchy, bit romantic, Titanic-like,” is how he gruffly describes his Fifty Shades Darker song with Taylor Swift, I Don’t Wanna Live Forever, currently in the charts. He grew up in East Bowling, where his mum, Trisha, who is Anglo-Irish, worked as a school chef, while his British-Pakistani dad, Yaser, stayed at home looking after the four children. Has he taken Gigi home yet? “I’ve never took her to Bradford, not yet. She’s met my family in London a few times, though.”

After he left One Direction in March 2015, breaking a million teenage hearts and ending a hugely lucrative mini industry (the band is now on hiatus), he lived at the Beverly Hills Hotel for six months, eating room-service chicken wings, feeling the vibes of all the musicians who had to stay at the hotel, such as Frank Sinatra, and doodling lyrics for his solo album, Mind of Mine, on the headed notepaper. Then he bought a home in Bel Air. “Gigi’s been living with me this past year,” he says. I notice that he pronounces “Gigi” not as a Gallic caress, but like a northerner going to the races: Gee-Gee. “I call her Gee, she calls me Zee,” he says. “There’s some other nicknames too, but I’ll keep those private.” He smiles.

They’re a hugely visible couple, who have been together since late 2015, and play out their love affair in fashion magazine shoots and the sexy video they filmed together for Pillowtalk — in which Zayn sings a passionate chorus that “f****** and fighting on is our paradise and it’s our war zone”. Why a war zone? “I don’t actually mean it’s a war zone,” he says slowly. “It’s a… metaphor for different things.” I pull a face. Zayn. I think we can do a little better than that. He takes the hint, draws breath and digs a bit deeper. “Love hurts,” he says. “Love is hard. Maybe my experiences of love up to writing that album were new and hard.”

He was previously engaged to Perrie Edwards of Little Mix, but they split in 2015. “I think there’s a strength in expressing emotion. If you were a guy, you used to have to be really masculine, but now expressing emotion is accepted and respected.”

When he published his autobiography last year, at the age of 23 no less, he came out as having suffered from an eating disorder, sometimes going for several days without eating at all. Headlines followed, such as “How Zayn Malik Is Shifting the Narrative of Men with Eating Disorders” in the Huffington Post. “It wasn’t specifically an eating disorder,” he says. “It was a control thing. Every area of my life was so regimented and controlled [the boys in 1D would sometimes have to go straight from playing a stadium to recording new material in the evening], it was the one area where I could say, ‘No, I’m not eating that.’ Once I got over the control, the eating just came back into place, super naturally.” He corrects himself. “Not supernaturally! Just really naturally. I came back to the UK and spent some time with my mum and got some TLC, and she cooked me food and I got back in touch, mentally, with a lot of the things I’d lost”.

How is his second album, due later this year, coming along? “They always say the second album is difficult, but so far I’m really happy with this one. There are real signs of growth and development. Hopefully, as a human being, I’m growing too, in my knowledge and perception.” Still, like so many, he gets “too wrapped up” in his social media. “I’m scrolling and scrolling and I’m, like, ‘I have to stop’, but I can’t, so I delete the app from my phone. And download it again the next day or whatever.”

He has deliberately surrounded himself with a music management team of strong, middle-aged women. Coming from a matriarchal family, he likes it that way. He seems in good hands. “I now have no problem with anxiety. It was something I was dealing with in the band,” he says. Did sharing his eating problem help? “Yes. People saw strength in that, and they didn’t seem to expect it from a guy, but they expect it from a female, which to me is crazy. We’re all human. People are often afraid to admit difficulties, but I don’t believe that there should be a struggle with anything that’s the truth.”

In One Direction he was tagged “the mysterious one”. “I have no idea why,” he says. “It was obviously a marketing strategy to appeal to different areas of female personalities and wants and needs. ‘I might want a cute one’, ‘I might want a cheeky one’, ‘I might want a mysterious one’, that’s all it was.” He’s smiling — he doesn’t seem bitter about having been a pick’n’mix pop puppet. “It’s cool, that’s life, I guess. I don’t really think of myself as mysterious, but maybe I am”.

He has a naughty, clever, playful side. He enjoys pretending to be his own evil twin, Rodger Malik. It’s a bit like Eminem’s Slim Shady. “Maybe it’s a psychological thing, or I’m creating an alter ego, but it’s fun to banter with your evil twin,” he says, rolling up his trouser leg to show me a tattoo on his calf that says “Rodger” in scrawled letters, near a tattoo of Jack Nicholson as The Joker. “He’s quite influential, that Rodger. He’s done a couple of songs on the new album. He’s off fishing today.”

Mysterious, possibly. Complicated, for sure. But Zayn seems at ease with himself. He’s pursuing new projects, including designing for Giuseppe Zanotti and some “regal, but street-inspired” looks for Versace Versus. “Actually, Gee helped me design for Zanotti. She’s a really good artist, really creative.” Donatella Versace commissioned Gigi to photograph Zayn and the British model Adwoa Aboah for a Versus campaign. “We shot it at the Chateau Marmont. It was just me, her and Adwoa. We got on a good vibe with it. There’s a dingy, rock’n’roll look to it.” How did Gigi take to being on the other side of the camera? “She didn’t have any problems taking photos,” he says. “There were no tantrums. She’s a really chilled person — she fell right into it.”

Donatella is more effusive, summing up their love affair: “They define the mood of their generation with their honesty, energy and love.” She’s got it. That’s Zee and Gee for you.

Zayn has won an early iHeartRadio Award!

The 24-year-old singer took to Twitter to share his thanks and gratitude after he won the award for Best Music Video for his hit song “Pillowtalk”.

Unfortunately, since he’s in Paris for Fashion Week, Zayn will not be able to attend the awards show tonight in Los Angeles.

In his video, Zayn’s girlfriend Gigi Hadid makes an appearance to say thanks as well!

Check out Zayn’s post below!

Gigi Hadid is getting behind the camera for Zayn’s upcoming campaign!

The 21-year-old model is letting her inner photographer loose for the Versus Versace Spring 2017 ads.

“Stay tuned .. #VersusUncensored”, Zayn captioned the mysterious behind-the-scenes Instagram video below, featuring Gigi shooting footage of both her boyfriend and model Adwoa Aboah on what appears to be iPhone while inside an apartment.

“Coming Soon – The #VersusSS17 advertising campaign starring @Zayn and @AdwoaAboah photographed by none other than @GigiHadid. #VersusUncensored”, Versus Versace shared on their own Instagram.

We can’t wait to see what these two have up their sleeves!

Taylor Swift and Zayn just surprised us all by dropping their new duet “I Don’t Wanna Live Forever” from the upcoming Fifty Shades Darker soundtrack.

The song was dropped just before midnight on late Thursday night (December 8) and it’s available to download now on iTunes!

“I just wanna keep calling your name until you come back home,” Zayn sings on the track. Taylor starts her verse, “I’m sitting, eyes wide open and I got one thing stuck in my mind. Wondering if I dodged a bullet or just lost the love of my life.”

Azealia Banks has penned an apology letter to Zayn following the racist insults she tweeted about him earlier this year.

The 25-year-old rapper was banned from Twitter for her offensive statements back in May.

“Dear Zayn, There are no words that can fully express how sorry I am,” Azealia wrote in the open letter on Friday (October 21). “Recent events have taught me the importance of taking accountability for ones actions. I want and need to say I am sorry, I was wrong.”

Azealia is currently involved in a public feud with Russell Crowe involving accusations of assault and racist expletives at a party last weekend.

“As a black woman, in America, I sometimes forget that there are words and comments that hurt other communities,” she went on. “At times, I am so consumed by my own struggle, and the struggle of my race, that I forget to consider the hardships other minorities continue to endure. Coming from an ethnicity that is largely discriminated against does not warrant a license to use derogatory, abusive terminology nor does it give me the right to make hurtful remarks.”

“I apologise not only to you, Zayn, but to all those I hurt and offended,” she added. “I am not cruel, nor am I heartless or vindictive. There is a lot of love in my heart and there is good in my soul. What I did was wrong and I am committed to becoming a better person.”

“Throughout my transgressions you remained a gentleman and I applaud you for displaying class and maintaining a level head,” she finished. “The world could learn a lot from you and I hope you can find room in your heart to accept my sincerest apologies.”

Zayn Malik has been hailed as a “true artist”.

The 23-year-old singer worked with producer Malay on his debut solo album ‘Mind of Mine’ and he was hugely impressed with Zayn’s vision and creativity.

In an excerpt from the singer’s autobiography, ‘Zayn’, obtained by Complex magazine, Malay said: “Zayn is a true artist. He’s got vision and he’s pretty clear about what he wants to do. It also helps that he’s really creative – he’s always drawing, painting or writing stuff; he’s reading all the time, and it comes out in his lyrics. He’s just forever exercising that part of his brain, and I’m excited to see where he ends up. This is just the beginning for him. Now that he’s getting started, I can only imagine where he’s going to be in a few years.”

And while Zayn loved collaborating with Malay, he admitted he found him “weird” at first.

He said:

“I remember the first time we went into the studio with him, I thought he was a bit of a weirdo. Not in a bad way, I have my fair share of weirdness at times. Malay was just such a strange, unique human being.

“I’m more of a beer or whisky guy, but Malay somehow got me into drinking wine. I still don’t do the swirl it around in the glass thing though – I’ll leave that one to him.”

In another excerpt from his eponymous autobiography, Zayn claimed he felt relieved to sing about sex after leaving boyband One Direction in March 2015.

Despite many of One Direction’s songs, including ‘No Control’, ‘Live While We’re Young’, ‘Change Your Ticket’, ‘Kiss You’ and ‘Temporary Fix’, referencing sex, Zayn wrote: “Every lyric I’ve ever written has a story behind it. All the hard work that went into the creation of ‘Pillowtalk’ was worthwhile because, as soon as it was finished, I intuitively felt I was on the right path.

“It was a sick cut, nailing the exact sound I wanted to capture in my music. I was also able to sing about a subject that I hadn’t really been able to go near while I was in One Direction: sex.”

Source: msn.com

Zayn and Donatella Versace just announced his exciting new collaboration with Versus Versace!

Zayn will create a capsule collection of men’s and women’s clothing for Versus under the ZAYN X VERSUS, which will debut in May of 2017. Zayn will also star in two campaigns for the brand next year!

“I think Versus has always been a very cool brand. It’s a great brand for me and for people in my generation. I’ve always wanted to design clothes, and there’s no brand I’d rather design for than Versus. The bonus is that I get to collaborate with Donatella, whom I love and admire. I know we’ll create something amazing,”

Zayn said.

“Zayn is one of the most exciting personalities on the world stage right now. When we first met, he told me how much he loves fashion. I thought it would be fantastic to collaborate on a new Versus collection together. And, given ZAYN’s huge fan base around the world, I expect there will be a lot of excitement about what we create together,” Donatella added.

Zayn is bringing some of his real-life boy band experiences to a new TV show!

The 23-year-old former One Direction member has signed on to produce a new NBC series titled Boys that follows a hugely popular boy band!

Although the series is not said to be based on One Direction, it will follow all the excitement, competition, fun and pressure that comes with being a part of a internationally successful group.

“Dick Wolf is a legend and the opportunity to work with him and NBC to create a compelling drama series is awesome,” Zayn told Deadline.

Zayn just had to cancel a big upcoming show.

The 23-year-old entertainer just announced that his October 7 concert at Autism Rocks Arena in Dubai, United Arab Emirates will no longer happen.

“I have been working over the last three months to overcome my extreme anxiety around major live solo performances I feel I am making progress but I have today acknowledged that I do not feel sufficiently confident to move forward with the planned show in Dubai in October,” Zayn wrote in a statement. “I am assured that all tickets will be refunded. I am truly sorry to disappoint you. I hope to see you all soon. Thank you to all my fans who support me globally.”

Source: justjared.com

M.I.A. has released a brand new song called “Freedun” featuring Zayn Malik and you can listen to it right here!

The song is off the 41-year-old singer’s upcoming fifth studio album Aim, which is set to be released on September 9. Fans who pre-order the song right now will get five songs as instant tracks.

“It sort of takes me out my comfort zone but kind of takes him out of his a little bit as well. It just worked out,” M.I.A. said in an interview with BBC Radio about the song.