MANILA, Philippines — Singer Zayn Malik is opening up more about his thoughts since leaving boy band One Direction, regretting he didn't enjoy his time with the group as much as he should have.
One Direction was formed after Zayn, Harry Styles, Niall Horan, Louis Tomlinson, and Liam Payne competed on "The X Factor" in 2010 though Zayn surprised fans when he left the group mid-tour in 2015.
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In an interview on the Zach Sang Show, Zayn shared how much he regrets not enjoying more being a part of One Direction.
"The main thing that I always feel bad about when I look back over my life is not enjoying the band enough," Zayn shared. "I feel like I just took things too seriously, you know? I'm grateful that I'm able to be happier now. I can actually enjoy things and own my own perspective a bit, you know?"
The artist believes at the time he did not understand how important it was to just be happy and "had this teen angst thing going on" where he thought it was "really cool to just be moody all the time."
"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 f***ing negative cloud of energy," Zayn added.
He credits his daughter Khai with ex Gigi Hadid as the reason he's found more peace and happiness now.
"She just makes me happier — I have so much love in me that I didn't have before she was born," Zayn said. "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 whole fresh perspective on life, [that] had somewhat become gray for me."
While Zayn was with One Direction, the group churned out hit singles like "What Makes You Beautiful," "One Thing," "Little Things," "Story of My Life," "Best Song Ever," "Night Changes," "Live While We're Young," "Kiss You" and "Steal My Girl."
When he left the remaining members released one more album, "Made in the A.M.," before going on an indefinite hiatus and focusing on their solo careers.
Since his departure Zayn has released three albums and his fourth one "Room Under the Stairs" is due to come out later this month.
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