Now is a good time to put aside old grudges, but if your former bandmate is expecting his first child with a supermodel, then you especially need to reach out. I admit that particular scenario really only applies to One Direction and Zayn Malik, after Malik's girlfriend Gigi Hadid confirmed on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon that the pair are indeed expecting a baby. Rumors of tension between the "Pillowtalk" singer and the British sweethearts have persisted ever since Malik left the group in 2015. While the rest disbanded less than a year later, the divide between Malik and Harry Styles, Liam Payne, Niall Horan, and Louis Tomlinson has remained — until, fans hope, now.
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Malik is not the first One Direction member to become a father. Tomlinson welcomed baby Freddie Reign with stylist Briana Jungwirth in 2016, and a year later Payne and Cheryl Cole privately had their son. This would be an easy reason to open the lines of communication back up, but fans would be happy with a rekindled relationship between any of the members.
i'm anxiously waiting to see if any of the other 4 one direction members congratulate zayn on the baby news
— Kylie (@KDomann08) April 28, 2020
come on lads, congratulate zayn, dont be shy
— Ann 🌹 (@1infinityD) May 1, 2020
do you guys think harry or niall would congratulate zayn & gigi?
— milen (@vinylangell) April 29, 2020
Malik has only ever publicly cited issues with One Direction's music, rather than calling out any members of the band personally, as the reason for his leaving.
"I think I always wanted to go, from like the first year, really. I never really wanted to be there, like in the band," he told Beats 1 in 2016. "I realized the direction we were going in — mind the pun — with the music, I instantly realized it wasn't for me because I realized I couldn't put any input in."
However, he and ex bandmate Louis Tomlinson got in a public Twitter altercation along with music producer Naughty Boy in 2015 that resulted in Malik sending the tweet: "remember when you had a life and stopped making bitchy comments about mine?"
To be fair, that was five years ago. Now that much of the band has traded in subtweets and selfies for solo careers and fatherhood, perhaps at least privately they can rebuild those friendships. But listen — a tweet wouldn't hurt, either.
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