As a former member of one of the biggest boy bands in the world, Zayn Malik’s love life has always been of interest to his fans.
Since shooting to fame with One Direction on The X Factor in 2010, they have followed his relationships almost as closely as his music.
From his engagement to Little Mix singer Perrie Edwards to his messy split with supermodel Gigi Hadid, his love life has been full of twists.
During his pubic relationships, there have been whispers of affairs and claims that he dumped many of his lovers by text.
On Wednesday, Zayn, 33, threw another spanner into the works when he admitted that he doesn’t think he was ever ‘in love’ with Gigi.
He had previously claimed that he’d never ‘truly been in love’ despite his lengthy history of romances, and when pressed on the remarks this week, he doubled down.
As a former member of one of the biggest boy bands in the world, Zayn Malik’s love life has always been of interest to his fans (pictured with ex Gigi Hadid 2017)
From his engagement to Little Mix singer Perrie Edwards (pictured) to his messy split with supermodel Gigi Hadid , his love life has been full of twists
Appearing on the Call Her Daddy podcast this week, he said that while he believed he was in love with Gigi the time, he has since realised his feelings didn’t run as deeply as he’d thought.
Reflecting on his relationship with the Victoria’s Secret angel, which was on and off for six years and resulted in welcoming a daughter, he said: ‘My understanding of love is always developing.
‘At that moment in time, I might have thought it was love, but as I’ve got older, I’ve realized maybe it wasn’t. Maybe it was lust. Maybe it was this. Maybe it was that. I don’t feel like it was love.’
But Zayn was quick to clarify that, while not romantically, he still loved Gigi ‘a crazy amount’ and ‘will always love her’, as the mother of his child.
‘To be fair, just to have this on the record, I will always love G, because she is the reason my child is on this Earth and I have the utmost respect for her,’ he insisted.
‘I will always love her, but I don’t know if I was in love with her. I do love her a crazy amount, but no, I don’t think I was in love with her at that point. Otherwise I would have been a better version of myself.’
His latest comment gives a glimpse into his chaotic romantic past.
Appearing on the Call Her Daddy podcast this week, Zayn said that while he believed he was in love at the time, he has since realised his feelings didn’t run as deeply as he’d thought with ex Gigi
Zayn’s first public relationship was with singer Geneva Lane in 2010.
The pair briefly dated while they both appeared on The X Factor before he allegedly dumped her for Rebecca Ferguson.
The singer and Rebecca began dating in 2011, as they prepared for a UK wide tour following separate appearances on the seventh series of British talent show The X Factor.
Their romance attracted attention because Rebecca was a 24-year-old mother-of-two, while he was just 18.
And Rebecca conceded the age gap inevitably led to her paying for Zayn during their four-month fling.
Prompted about her time with the singer in a previous interview, she said: ‘I was 23 and he was 18. I would pay the bill quite a lot.
‘People will be quite surprised by that. But I’d split the bill now.’
However, after four months together, they called it quits due to the demands of fame.
Zayn’s first public relationship was with singer Geneva Lane in 2010 (pictured)
The pair briefly dated while they both appeared on The X Factor before he allegedly dumped her for Rebecca Ferguson (Rebecca pictured in 2024)
After the end of his relationship with Rebecca, Zayn dated Hollyoaks actress Stephanie Davis (pictured in 2023)
Zayn told The Mirror at the time: ‘I got told at the beginning of my career it’s quite hard to hold on to a relationship and realised halfway through the relationship that it was hard.
‘We both mutually decided.
‘Am I sad? We’re just getting on with it and doing our own thing. We’re still friends though.’
He then started a romance with Hollyoaks actress Stephanie Davis.
The singer asked her out through his former 1D bandmate Niall Horan, who knew one of her friends and was happy to give him her phone number.
Recalling how Zayn called her while she was picking up some chips and gravy from the Hollyoaks canteen, she told the house: ‘I wasn’t bothered, it was no big deal.’
‘He said he was coming to Leeds and asked me to meet him and I told him my mum would have to drop me off.
‘We spent three hours on the phone talking and he said he liked me because I’m so easy to talk to.’
After five months of dating, they ended their relationship, with Stephanie later revealing that she had to change her number to avoid talking to him.
Stephanie revealed that she ended things with him because he was seeing Little Mix star Perrie.
Recounting their past in a previous interview, she said: ‘We dated for five months in 2011, just before he started seeing Perrie.
‘We actually broke up because I found out he had been meeting up with Perrie.
‘It was just one of those things. Zayn is a good lad really, I don’t have anything bad to say about him.’
Zayn and Perrie first met when One Direction were invited back to perform on The X Factor while her band, Little Mix, were competing
Perrie pictured in Little Mix during The X Factor in 2011
Zayn and Perrie first met when One Direction were invited back to perform on The X Factor while her band, Little Mix, were competing.
Despite his good looks, his success wasn’t enough to charm Perrie.
She told an interviewer in 2014: ‘I didn’t really like Zayn when I first met him, because I didn’t know him and he seems a bit cocky and a bit full of himself.’
But by April 2012, their romance was official, and despite worries over their crazy schedules, the couple quickly became one of the hottest pairs in pop.
Their relationship moved quickly with Zayn meeting his Geordie girl’s parents in July 2012, telling The Mirror: ‘I went up to meet her mum and family the other month. I was a bit scared of meeting her brother to be honest – he’s in the navy, he’s a big bloke. I thought he was going to be a bit defensive over his sister but he was cool.’
Just a month later, in the first in what was to become a series of cheating rumours, allegations rocked the blissful romance.
Video footage allegedly filmed by a girl staying at the same hotel as the boybander was released showing Zayn apparently hitting on a girl.
The drama led to Zayn deleting his X account because he was tired of the ‘hate,’ after Perrie shut down her own account in May.
By April 2012, their romance was official, and despite worries over their crazy schedules, the couple quickly became one of the hottest pairs in pop
A further infidelity scandal hit the headlines just a few weeks later in September 2012, when a phone recording appeared to suggest Zayn flirting with other women yet again.
By the end of 2012, though, the couple had put the rumours behind them, with Perrie’s Little Mix bandmates giving her man their ringing endorsement when they gushed in an interview: ‘[We’ve] never seen a boy love a girl as much as he loves her.’
Fast forward to February 2013 and Zayn jetted back to the UK to save his relationship after pictures emerged of the star allegedly in a waitress’s bed during 1D’s latest tour.
Australian Courtney Webb took pictures of the singer while he slept, which went public. But Perrie, again, stood by her man.
By June, Zayn had proved his love by getting a cartoon-style image of Perrie tattooed on his arm.
Two months later, Perrie and Zayn went one step further – proposing to his girlfriend of 18 months.
Directioners went into meltdown when Perrie was spotted wearing an engagement ring at the One Direction: This Is Us premiere in London, with the big news later confirmed by members of their families.
In November 2014, the blissful period continued when the happy couple adopted a Teacup Yorkshire Terrier named Teddy together, but that same month Zayn found himself at the centre of another row when he failed to join his bandmates in the US to promote their fourth album, prompting Today show’s Matt Lauer to ask if it was related to drugs.
Just a month later, in the first in what was to become a series of cheating rumours, allegations rocked the blissful romance. Video footage allegedly filmed by a girl staying at the same hotel as the boybander was released showing Zayn apparently hitting on a girl
By March 2015, Perrie was pictured without her engagement ring and claimed it was because it was at the cleaners.
A couple of weeks later, the biggest storm yet to hit their relationship broke when Zayn publicly apologised after being pictured with his arm around Lauren Richardson during a wild night out in Thailand.
The boyband star was holidaying in Phuket with fellow bandmember Louis when he was pictured holding hands with Lauren, with the singer soon flying home for ‘crisis talks’ with Perrie, while the official line blamed his departure from 1D’s tour on ‘stress’.
Zayn tweeted about the incident in a bid to prove his love, writing: ‘I’m 22 years old… I love a girl named Perrie Edwards. And there’s a lot of jealous f**ks in this world I’m sorry for what it looks like x.’
In the weeks after his split from 1D a source has told the Daily Mail that it was Zayn who called off the engagement, with the news coming in the middle of Perrie’s promotional duties for Little Mix’s new single Black Magic.
The singer was blindsided by Zayn’s decision, with the insider explaining: ‘Perrie is absolutely devastated.’
Zayn and Perrie split in August 2015 after four years together, and the singer has since revealed her fiancé called time on their engagement via text message.
Writing in Little Mix’s book, Our World, Perrie said of the split: ‘It was horrible, the worst time of my life.
The biggest storm yet to hit their relationship broke when Zayn publicly apologised after being pictured with his arm around Lauren Richardson during a wild night out in Thailand
‘A four-year relationship, two-year engagement ended by a simple text message. Just like that.
‘Even though things my career were going really well, it was incredibly difficult for me.’
Zayn denied dumping Perrie via text, telling Fader magazine: ‘I have more respect for Perrie than to end anything over text message.
‘I love her a lot, and I always will, and I would never end our relationship over four years like that.
‘She knows that, I know that, and the public should know that as well. I don’t want to explain why or what I did.’
Little Mix’s 2016 song, Shout Out To My Ex, is believed to be a response to Zayn Malik’s split from Perrie.
Zayn then went on to date model Gigi, with them first being linked in late 2015 after attending Justin Bieber’s American Music Award’s after-party.
A source told US Weekly in November 2015 that while they weren’t ‘boyfriend and girlfriend’ yet, they were definitely into each other.
His debut as a solo artist took a sexy turn with the video release for his first single, Pillowtalk, starring none other than Gigi.
The steamy visuals were followed by a flirty online exchange, leading many to believe that their friendship was anything but platonic.
In May, they confirmed what was already assumed as they walked hand-in-hand on the red carpet at fashion’s biggest night, the Met Gala.
Zayn then went on to date model Gigi, with them first being linked in late 2015 after attending Justin Bieber’s American Music Award’s after-party (pictured in 2016)
He explained in November how the pair met at a Victoria’s Secret party and he approached Hadid after recognizing her from ‘her picture,’ and soon took her on a date.
‘She knows how to carry herself. She’s quite classy and that. She’s not, like, arrogant in any way,’ he told ES Magazine. ‘She’s confident. She carries it well. She’s cool.’
Their romance continued to flourish, mostly privately, but Gigi stepped behind the lens to snap Zayn for the Spring 2017 Versus Versace campaign.
The Italian luxury brand shared a clip on their Twitter account with Gigi asking: ‘When you’re alone, who do you want next to you?’ to which Malik smiled while replying, ‘You.’
In January 2018, Gigi shared a romantic tribute to her boyfriend to mark his birthday. ‘Love this man more than I could ever put into words [and] am inspired by his drive to be and do better everyday,’ she wrote.
By March, though, the supermodel was singing a different tune as Gigi and Zayn called it quits, sharing his-and-hers tweets to confirm the split.
All was not as it seemed as Gigi and Zayn were spotted kissing in New York City weeks after they announced their break-up.
However, Zayn was a no show to her 23rd birthday party in April.
In October, he made an appearance on her Instagram stories when she shared a selfie and wrote ‘flyin home to my happy place.’
But in 2019, they called it off again, with sources telling US Weekly that their relationship was ‘over for now’.
The following year, the couple confirmed their romance was flourishing yet again on Valentine’s Day.
Despite remaining out of the public eye due to various lockdowns from COVID-19, Gigi revealed she was pregnant on a virtual appearance of The Tonight Show starring Jimmy Fallon.
‘Obviously, we wish we could have announced it on our own terms,’ she said. ‘We’re very excited and happy and grateful for everyone’s well wishes and support.’
Gigi announced she was pregnant in 2020
Gigi delivered Khai during a home birth in Pennsylvania in mid-September with Zayn.
Their six-year romance came to an end in 2021 after Zayn got into an altercation with Gigi’s mother Yolanda Hadid.
The singer pleaded no contest to the charges after allegedly pushing his former partner Gigi Hadid’s mother into a dresser and calling her a ‘f*****g Dutch sl*t’ in September 2021.
Court documents revealed that he had to complete 360 days probation in addition to completing an anger management class.
During an appearance on the Call Her Daddy podcast in 2023, Zayn said he believes he dealt with the situation ‘in the best way’ and described the incident as ‘family issues’.
He said: ‘I don’t get involved when people talk online. My most valuable thing for me is time and I don’t want to be justifying myself.
‘I knew what the situation was and I knew what happened and the people involved know what happened and that’s all that matters.
‘I didn’t want to bring attention and I didn’t want to get a negative back and forth with her [or] any sort of narrative for my daughter to eventually read.
Their six-year romance came to an end in 2021 after Zayn got into an altercation with Gigi’s mother Yolanda Hadid
‘I believe I dealt with it in the best way and that’s all that needs to be said. It was a lot of negativity.
‘They’re family issues I’d rather keep in the family. I’m very hands on with my child, if I could have 60 per cent I would take it.’
Last year, Gigi offered rare comments on Zayn, as she opened up on their co-parenting arrangement to Vogue.
‘Zayn and I do our custody schedules months in advance’, she revealed. ‘That doesn’t mean that it doesn’t change here and there, but we help each other out and have each other’s backs.’
The star added that she and her ex have entered this phase of their partnership with ‘love, and a feeling of camaraderie’.
Referencing the incident, Gigi lamented: ‘There is the hard part of the world knowing this much, and thinking they know everything. And at the end of the day, we’re not interested in giving everyone our whole story.
‘What we are interested in is raising our daughter together. With so much respect for each other, and not just as co-parents, but what we’ve been through together.’
Zayn’s latest comments come as he revealed that he is ‘not looking for a public relationship again’, saying that he had learned from previous experience that they ‘don’t work for me’.
Zayn’s latest comments come as he revealed that he is ‘not looking for a public relationship again’, saying that he had learned from previous experience that they ‘don’t work for me’
He added that when he was young he ‘tended to get in trouble in relationships’.
He explained on the Call Her Daddy podcast: ‘I’m not looking for a public relationship again, and just out of experience, no offence to anybody that I have been in public relationships with before.
‘I’ve just learned from it that it don’t work for me. I’m quite a private person. I don’t really strive for people’s approval or attention. So the relationship should really be between me and that person.
‘And I think that personality type, somebody who doesn’t want to do that, would be more suited to me.’
However, he said he was in no rush to meet someone as he candidly explained how he found being single ‘so freeing’.
‘I don’t find being alone scary,’ he declared. ‘No disrespect to all the past relationships I’ve been in. No disrespect at all, it was freeing.
‘I am that type of person who runs on my own clock, answers to myself. So, it was so freeing to me. I could just do things, make plans. Sleep until any time I want.
‘I tended to get in trouble in relationships, because I was young, did certain things, spoke to other females when I shouldn’t have been. You live and learn from it, but this way, there’s no guilt.’
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