From a quintet, One Direction is now down to a quartet after Zayn Malik decided to take a break from the band’s concert tour currently happening in Southeast Asia.
Malik flew back to the UK after the British boy band’s most recent performance in Thailand. One Direction will perform in the Philippines and Indonesia without him and there has been no announcement thus far when he will rejoin the group. But it is likely that he would not, at least for the Southeast Asia leg of their ‘On the Road Again’ Tour.
After Southeast Asia, One Direction will kick off their North American concert tour starting on July 9 at the Qualcomm Stadium in San Diego, reports U-T San Diego.
While fellow band members understand and commiserate with Malik for his reason to quit on One Direction’s ongoing tour concert, his decision came at a time when there were already speculations that the British boy band is about to split.
A few days ago, there was a report that American bad boy rapper 50 Cent expressed his interest in signing up Zayn Malik to his record label in the event that the One Direction crooner decides to go solo and consider rapping for a career.
A brewing controversy
However, much of the speculation as to why Zayn Malik decided to take a break from the band’s ongoing concert tour is due to stress as a result of published photos of him in Thailand with another young woman, alluding that he might be cheating with his fiancée Perrie Edwards.
The young woman on the photo with Malik was 19-year-old Lauren Robinson. Malik’s fiancée Edwards is also a singer, being a member of the UK girl quartet called Little Mix.
On March 18, Malik posted on his Twitter that he loves Perrie Edwards despite a lot of jealousy happening all around the world. He then apologized to his girl for the photo of him and Robinson though he did not offer any further explanation.
Malik is reportedly flying back to England to appease and make the personal explanation to his fiancée.
A major hitch
One Direction’s concert tour to the Philippines also has another major hitch but would not in any way affect their performance.
Apparently, the Philippine Bureau of Immigration has imposed a $5,000 bond on tour promoters each for Zayn Malik and Louis Tomlinson as a guarantee that the two band members will not be using or promoting illegal drugs while in Manila for their concert. The bonds will be forfeited once they are caught doing so.
Now that Zayn Malik is out, the bond will now be specifically directed towards Louis Tomlinson. According to a spokesperson of the Philippine Bureau of Immigration, the bond is intended to protect public interest and is also meant to ensure that band members will not commit any violation during their stay in the Philippines.