By: Entertainment DeskNew Delhi | October 9, 2025 06:18 PM IST 4 min readFrom the get-go, boy bands in general have a very short shelf life. Apart from some outliers, such as The Backstreet Boys, who never officially disbanded, most groups run out of steam or keep in too much of it, leading to the breakup. One of the most notable breakups of the 2000s was singer Zayn Malik’s exit from One Direction. The whole world was shocked to see the soprano go, and that too at the peak of the band’s career. Bandmate Louis Tomlinson recently talked about the same and how he never saw this move coming, and neither did the others.Louis recently appeared on the Life of a CEO podcast to discuss his solo career, personal struggles, family, and, of course, One Direction. When asked about his relationship with his former bandmates, he noted that he and Zayn were quite similar and distinctly different from the other three: Harry Styles, Niall Horan, and Liam Payne.ALSO READ: Taylor Swift is so happy in ‘The Life of a Showgirl’ that she made the same song 12 times over; and she does love Travis KelceThe host recalled a conversation he had with Liam about how their lives just consisted of hotels, flights and stages. Louis responded to this and said, “The way I and Liam both handled the work and the fame was quite different. I often think that me being the way I am was the reason why I was closer to Zayn. Neither of us are really rule-abiding, not in an utterly disruptive way, but we just had our own ideas. That helped alleviate a little bit of the pressure. On the other hand, Liam and the other boys had an element of a little bit of fear.”Going deeper into his friendship with Zayn Malik and his unfortunate exit, Louis Tomlinson said, “I was furious. It’s not something that we have discussed enough, but again, it goes back to loyalty for me. Selfishly I think that he should have come and talked to me before leaving. I’ll give you an example of the bond we share, and I hope Zayn would say the same. As a band, we had always decided that we would never have separate dressing rooms, but during our last tour that changed. Everyone had a separate room, but I and Zayn shared. I thought that we had a relationship where he could have talked to me. If he had told me, I would have tried to stop him, and maybe that’s why he didn’t.”ALSO READ: Selena Gomez shares unseen wedding video; Taylor Swift announces she will have a ‘huge’ wedding: ‘It won’t be stressful’Louis recalled how Zayn actually left the band and said, “The night before we found out, everything was normal. We were in the hotel room, and we were having a joint. Everything was cool; he left around 11 at night. Then the next morning we had a shoot with Coca-Cola, and he didn’t show. Now this wasn’t anything out of the ordinary. If he didn’t want to do something, he would never do it. So I think that’s probably why he left the band. That’s why I respect him, because if I were in the same situation, I would have put six plasters on the thing and tried to keep everyone together.”Story continues below this adHe added, “I just want to know if he regrets it. Because he must miss it. I know him really well, and our energies are very similar. This business can get very fuzzy, and when you are in a band, you can share that.”One Direction was formed on the talent show X-Factor in 2010, and they disbanded in 2016.Click here to follow Screen Digital on YouTube and stay updated with the latest from the world of cinema.© IE Online Media Services Pvt Ltd