Five things we learned about Zayn in new autobiography

Directioners, this just may be your lucky day. The hotly anticipated autobiography from former One Direction star, Zayn Malik, is now available and it reveals a lot more about the solo artist than we initially thought it would.  

Teasing fans on Instagram on Monday evening, Zayn explains the book serves as a ‘diary of a period time that I would like to share with you all. There are things I address in the book that are very personal to me, things that I have never told anyone, things I still find hard to talk about. It’s part of a journey that I am still on.’

Intrigued? We were. Check out the top five things that surprised us about the 23-year-old heart throb. 

EATING DISORDER?
It’s not news that Zayn has battled with anxiety since leaving One Direction two years ago, but his latest memoir reveals that he was struggling with even more behind the scenes: a possible eating disorder. ‘When I look back at the images of myself from around November 2014, before the final tour, I can see how ill I was,’ he writes in the book. Zayn describes how food was the only thing he felt a sense of control over, to the point where he would go for days without eating. ‘The workload and pace of life on the road put together with the pressures and strains of everything going on within the bad had badly affected my eating habits,’ he says.

ON GOING SOLO...
Opening up about his One Direction exit, Zayn explains he felt lost and needed time to collect his own thoughts. So when the opportunity arose to sing and record tracks alone, Zayn wrote that he was able to touch on topics he was never able to pursue as a member of 1D. ‘All the hard work that went into the creation of ‘Pillowtalk’ was worthwhile because… I was able to sing about a subject that I hadn’t really been able to go near while I was in One Direction: sex’.

BAD BLOOD?
When asked if he’s still friends with his former band mates, he says: ‘Yeah we’re still talking – some of us are.’ Could it be that the formerly tight knit crew have some bad blood following their split?

FAMILY MAN
The track ‘Intermission: Flower’ was inspired by his father, Pakistani musician Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan. The singer describes how important it was to earn his father’s approval, and this song was a way of expressing himself vocally so that his parents could see things from his point of view.

RELATIONSHIPS
If you’re expecting a juicy tell-all on his split from former fiancé and Little Mix pop star Perrie Edwards, you’ll be hard pressed to find it. Or if you'd prefer some details of his relationship with current flame Gigi Hadid, she isn't mentioned either – sigh.

Check out Zayn’s self-titled autobiography here.

Photo credit: Jason LaVeris / Film Magic