Zayn Malik gushed how fatherhood ‘changed him’ for the better as he gave a rare insight into his family life with his three-year-old daughter Khai in a new interview.
The former One Direction star, 31, shares his little one who he shared with his ex girlfriend model Gigi Hadid, 29, – who he split from in 2021.
Speaking on Fearne Cotton’s Happy Place podcast on Monday, Zayn detailed his idyllic countryside life on a farm in Pennsylvania where he spends quality father-daughter time with Khai – who he has 50 per cent of the time.
He told how being a dad ‘changed his approach to a lot of things in life’, taught him patience and has given more depth to his song writing.
Zayn also admitted that before having her he thought he would be a strict parent but actually that has been far from the case.
Zayn Malik gushed how fatherhood ‘changed him’ for the better as he gave a rare insight into his family life with his three-year-old daughter Khai in a new interview
Speaking on Fearne Cotton ‘s Happy Place podcast on Monday, Zayn detailed his idyllic countryside life on a farm in Pennsylvania where he spends quality father-daughter time with Khai – who he has 50 per cent of the time
He told Fearne in the wide-ranging interview: ‘Fatherhood has changed me in general. It has changed my approach to a lot of things in life. I have developed a hell of a lot more patience.
‘That has influenced me across the board. Being a father also gives me so much more depth to my song writing when I am talking about real life things. When I was 17 I didn’t really have anything to write about, I had only just left school.
‘But I have more to say now, I have this love for this being that I never understood before. I have no fears expressing that as it is such a good feeling that I’ve been through. And I want to share that with the world in a good fatherly way.’
On what kind of parent he is he added: ‘I thought I was going to be way stricter than I am.
I thought ‘oh I won’t let them get away with this’ and that but actually I do everything she asks me to do!’
He also detailed their countryside life in Pennsylvania saying he left New York as it was too ‘intrusive’ living there with a young child.
Zayn described his joy at watching Khai ‘running through fields’, collecting eggs from their chickens and being able to go camping.
He said: ‘We left New York when having the kid as it was too intrusive and we wanted to have her away from all of that.
The former One Direction star, 31, shares his little one who he shared with his ex girlfriend model Gigi Hadid , 29, – who he split from in 2021
He told how being a dad ‘changed his approach to a lot of things in life’, taught him patience and has given more depth to his song writing (Gigi and Zayn seen in March 2021)
Zayn also admitted that before having her he thought he would be a strict parent but actually that has been far from the case
He told Fearne in the wide-ranging interview: ‘Fatherhood has changed me in general. It has changed my approach to a lot of things in life. I have developed a hell of a lot more patience’
He added: ‘That has influenced me across the board. Being a father also gives me so much more depth to my song writing when I am talking about real life things’
‘She gets to run round in the fields and we get to go camping and BBQ outside without people watching us straight out the front door. We have three dogs, four cats and 10 chickens. We collect the eggs every day with Khai she loves it.’
He also spoke about how he manages his 50/50 custody with his ex Gigi, saying when Khai isn’t with him he uses the time to paint and read and live a quiet life.
The star explained: ‘I have my daughter 50 per cent of the time. That 50 per cent she’s not with me for I try to look at it as glass half full not empty so in that time she’s not here I can paint and read.
‘When she’s with me you can’t do nothing I am a father then from the minute she wakes up until she goes to bed.’
It comes after last week Zayn admitted his daughter unlocked a love in him he never had before she was born.
Speaking on The Zach Sang Show he admitted his daughter changed his life as he said: ‘I feel like my daughter brought that colour back in my life.
‘She just makes me happy. I have so much love in me that I didn’t have before she was born.’
He continued: ‘She laughs all day. She wants to do the silliest things and she gains so much excitement from it. She just has a whole fresh perspective on life that had some- what become grey for me.’
Zayn and Gigi initially dated from 2015 to 2018. After a brief split, they reconciled, only to break up again in 2019, before reuniting early in 2020 and welcoming their daughter Khai.
However, reported tension between Zayn and and Gigi’s mother, Yolanda Hadid, eventually led to their separation.
Zayn was charged with four counts of harassment after he pleaded no contest to the charges after allegedly pushing Yolanda 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.
However Zayn seems to have put all that behind him as he explained how he has now matured through parenthood.
He added: ‘She’s a force of nature. She’s given me maturity. She’s forced my sensibility to become this mature father for her, this good responsible role model that takes accountability for their actions and sticks to their work and proves that my word is bond.’
Zayn also discussed feelings of resentment during his time in One Direction as he claimed the members’ maturity level at the time and their original solo ambitions had them in ‘competition’ with each other.
He told Zach: ‘I think the thing was, we were so young. And when we were in the band, we didn’t have that level of compassion yet because we didn’t understand life yet. We just were young kids that just were thrown in the situation.’
Zayn shot to fame when he competed on The X Factor in 2010 and the judges put him into the boyband alongside Harry Styles, Liam Payne, Niall Horan and Louis Tomlinson.
He left the group in March 2015, months before they went on indefinite hiatus.
‘Now, when I look back at it, I can look at it in a positive light and be like, all these guys came from similar backgrounds to me. They had nothing, they worked their [butts] off, they wanted to sing, they got the thrown in a band,’ he continued.
‘And you know, we resented each other to a certain degree because we were solo artists that were put in a band, and we should have never felt that way.
‘It should have never been a competition. It should have always been a camaraderie, and we should have always been there for each other and had each other’s backs.’
Sharing his regrets he admitted: ‘The one thing I always feel bad about when I look back over my life is not enjoying the band enough. I feel like I just took things too seriously.
‘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, like glass half full versus it being half empty. That’s my choice. I get to decide what that is.
‘I didn’t understand the importance of just trying to be happy. I had this teen angst thing going on, a chip on my shoulder where I’m like, ‘It’s really cool to just be moody all the time.’
In the explosive interview, Zayn also admitted he has never ‘truly been in love’ despite sharing a daughter with the Gigi being formerly engaged to Little Mix star Perrie Edwards.
The singer subtly referenced his relationship with Gigi while dissecting songs from his upcoming album Room Under the Stairs, saying he’s ‘moved on’.
‘I don’t know if I’ve actually truly been in love at this point,’ Zayn added.
While Zayn didn’t directly mention Gigi by name when discussing his new songs, he alluded to his past relationship as he discussed the lyrical themes.
‘The first song that I wrote on the record was Alienated, and it was towards the end of my relationship. Like when me and my ex were breaking up,’ he divulged.
‘So there’s the heavy narrative of the kinds of things I was going through mentally in that situation and what I was thinking and how I was feeling.’
For a song called How It Feels, Zayn said he was ‘talking about not being able to explain to the person that you’re in love with why it is that you necessarily can’t be the best version of the partner you want to be. And that’s a really sad thing.’
However, he did acknowledge that Khai was showing signs of developing musical talents, seemingly attributing them to Gigi.
Zayn continued: ‘I have this love for this being that I never understood before. I have no fears expressing that as it is such a good feeling that I’ve been through’
He also detailed their countryside life in Pennsylvania saying he left New York as it was too ‘intrusive’ living there with a young child
Zayn and Gigi initially dated from 2015 to 2018. After a brief split, they reconciled, only to break up again in 2019, before reuniting early in 2020 and welcoming their daughter Khai
It comes after last week Zayn admitted his daughter unlocked a love in him he never had before she was born
‘She can play a little bit. She’s not like expert level, but she’s got a bit of rhythm when she’s hitting the drums,’ he said of his 3-year-old girl.
‘I can tell that she definitely can develop that into something. Her mom was actually really good at Guitar Hero on the drums. I was like, ‘Maybe she got that from her mom.’
‘Cuz I was diabolical at it, and G used to beat me all the time. I used to be like, ‘What the f***. I’m the musician, and she beats me at this game.’ But Khai’s got that too.’
Zayn’s latest album Room Under the Stairs drops on May 17.
