The music mogul admits that he first wanted to ask Malik to stay 'a bit longer' in the band, but he eventually let him go as '[he] could see he was a bit stressed and needed some time off.'
- Apr 17, 2015
AceShowbiz - Simon Cowell spoke out again about Zayn Malik's departure from One Direction during a visit to "The Late Late Show with James Corden". The music mogul stopped by the show on Thursday night, April 16 and admitted in an interview with host James Corden that he was shocked by the 22-year-old singer's decision to leave the band.
Cowell joked to Corden that he was "about to jump off a cliff" after learning of the news. He then revealed that he first planned to convince Malik to stay "a bit longer" in the group. "I was trying to say to him he should stay around a bit longer. But something inside him said he'd had enough," he said.
However, he later decided that he should let Malik go, thinking the "stressed" heartthrob really needed to be alone. "I saw him in person as well - but once someone has made their mind up they are going to go," he continued. "At the same time I don't want to push him too much because he's 22 and I could see he was a bit stressed and needed some time off."
Cowell added that after he finally came to terms with Malik's exit, his priority was to make sure the rest One Direction members could deal with the heartbreaking loss too. "I dealt with it then I made sure the guys were OK - because they were shocked as well," he explained.
Following Malik's exit, One Direction will continue as a four-piece. Recently, they shared their first official photo without their former bandmate and confirmed they'd started working on their fifth album that's due out later this year.
