Zayn Malik says he will "always" love Perrie Edwards.

Zayn Malik

Zayn Malik

The 22-year-old star, who ended his engagement with the Little Mix singer in August, insists he didn't break her heart via text message.

He said: "I have more respect for Perrie than to end anything over text message. I love her a lot, and I always will, and I would never end our relationship over four years like that.

"She knows that, I know that, and the public should know as well. I don't want to explain why or what I did, I just want the public to know I didn't do that."

Meanwhile, the former One Direction singer, who quit the boy band in March after five years, admits he wanted to leave from the start.

He told the December/January issue of The FADER magazine: "I just wanted to go home from the beginning. I was always thinking it. I just didn't know when I was going to do it. It just felt right on that day. I woke up on that morning and was like, 'I need to go home. I just need to be me now, because I've had enough.'

"I was with my little cousin at the time -- we were sat in the hotel room -- and I just said, 'Should I go home?' And he was like, 'If you want to go home, let's go home.' So we left."

Zayn, who is gearing up to release his debut solo album, isn't a fan of the band's music, but insists he isn't trying to bash his ex-bandmates Niall Horan, Harry Styles, Liam Payne and Louis Tomlinson.

He said: "That's not music that I would listen to. Would you listen to One Direction, sat at a party with your girl? I wouldn't. To me, that's not an insult, that's me as a 22-year-old man.

"As much as I was in that band, and I loved everything that we did, that's not music that I would listen to. I don't think that's an offensive statement to make."

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