Zayn, noooooo.
Photo: Jeff Kravitz/OneD/Getty
AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH. Zayn Malik is leaving One Direction, as announced by the band’s official Facebook page. “I am leaving because I want to be a normal 22-year-old who is able to relax and have some private time out of the spotlight,†he writes, a reasonable follow-up to the recent news that he was dropping out of the band’s remaining tour dates. We were right to be worried! Now 1D will lose one fifth of the squad, and they still have to make another album. Their contract with Columbia and Simon Cowell’s Syco demands five albums (four of which they have already released) plus one Greatest Hits. More solo time for Louis? Sure, but we’re going to miss the dark-haired tenor. Get ready for mass teenage panic.