Louis Tomlinson says Zayn Malik's exit from One Direction hit him the hardest.
Louis Tomlinson and Liam Payne
The 23-year-old singer has admitted he was distraught when his former bandmate, 23, announced earlier this year he was turning his back on the group for good in order to live a "normal life" and carve out a solo career.
He told the Times newspaper's Style magazine: "It was hard. I think maybe for me the most. But he wanted to be happy and he wasn't. Everything had always been good and then something bad happens and you have to make decisions, you have to work out what you want, and it makes you really know what you want, and we all knew we wanted this."
However, the soon-to-be father, who is expecting his first child with stylist Briana Jungwirth following a short fling, believes Zayn's departure happened at the right time because it encouraged the group, also consisting of Liam Payne, Harry Styles and Niall Horan, to work extra hard on their forthcoming album 'Made in the A.M.'
He added: "The good thing was, he left just before we made the album. It was like, 'Right, let's make it the best album.' So we worked our backsides off because we want to show we are a band, we're here, this is what we do."
And it wasn't just Louis who noticed Zayn's heart wasn't in the band anymore as Liam, 22, has admitted he saw the warning signs when they were touring last year.
He explained: "We saw a lot of the signs, especially in a lot of the gigs abroad that we did. And it's sad. Like with a football team, or when someone in your office goes. But the fans stuck around they didn't believe it was the end."
Tagged in Niall Horan Zayn Malik Louis Tomlinson