Zayn Malik says he had an eating disorder during time with One Direction

Zayn Malik (REX Features)

Zayn Malik says he had an eating disorder when he was in One Direction, revealing he would sometimes go days without eating anything.

Despite being only 23, the singer has detailed his experiences of his time with one of the world’s most successful bands – which also contains Harry Styles, Liam Payne, Niall Horan and Louis Tomlinson – and his path to solo stardom after leaving the group last year in an autobiography titled Zayn.

“When I look back at images of myself from around November, 2014, before the final tour, I can see how ill I was,” he writes according to The Sun. “Something I’ve never talked about in public before, but which I have come to terms with since leaving the band, is that I was suffering from an eating disorder.

“It wasn’t as though I had any concerns about my weight or anything like that, I’d just go for days – sometimes two or three days straight – without eating anything at all. It got quite serious, although at the time I didn’t recognise it for what it was.

“I think it was about control. I didn’t feel like I had control over anything else in my life, but food was something I could control, so I did.

“I had lost so much weight I had become ill. The workload and the pace of life on the road put together with the pressures and strains of everything going on within the band had badly affected my eating habits.”

However, in an interview with the Associated Press, Malik downplays the issue saying he was never officially diagnosed.

“I don’t think I ever had an eating disorder. I was never diagnosed with one of them."

Malik has previously been open with the mental health issues he has faced and this year has cancelled two shows due to anxiety.

In a frank admission when he cancelled his much-anticipated appearance at the Capital Summertime Ball he said: “Unfortunately, my anxiety that has haunted me throughout the last few months around live performances has gotten the best of me.. with the magnitudee of the event, I have suffered the worst anxiety of my career.

His model girlfriend Gigi Hadid later praised Malik for his bravery and being honest with his fans.