Simon Cowell doesn't know if One Direction will get back together.

Simon Cowell

Simon Cowell

The 56-year-old music mogul "trusts" the group - which includes Harry Styles, Liam Payne, Niall Horan and Louis Tomlinson - to decide if and when they're ready to get back together but admits he's not sure whether it's just a hiatus or not.

He said: "Whenever I was with them, we talked about it, and I couldn't argue with them. They had achieved so much in a short period of time, and I didn't want them to get jaded. As I've gotten older, I've learned to trust people more, particularly artists. They'll decide when they want to come back together.

"I don't know if it's a hiatus or a breakup, to be honest. In a weird way, I don't want to know. I don't think they've had enough time to experience what it's like not being in the group to really answer that."

And despite Zayn Malik's departure from the chart-topping boy band, Simon was keen to keep the 23-year-old singer close.

He added to Billboard magazine: "Zayn is still signed to our company. But the boys hadn't bought into the fact that he was leaving, so out of respect for them, it wasn't the right thing to put him on Syco. What's good for Zayn is good for us, good for the show and good for the brand."