Even when he was in One Direction, ZAYN wasn’t really a fan of putting himself out there. That’s why it’s notable that he sat down with Alex Cooper on her Call Her Daddy podcast for what he says was his first in-depth interview in six years.
The full interview arrives July 12, but in a teaser on Instagram, the former 1D member says, “I feel like we were so overexposed in the band. That’s why I took the time that I have to not even necessarily do interviews. They just said, ‘Oh yeah, you can be the mysterious one."”
“That wasn’t necessarily my personality. I’m just chill,” he continues. “I know that a lot of people have high-energy personalities, and it’s just not the way I am.”
ZAYN explains to Cooper, “Since I had my daughter, the main thing in my mind is trying to be a good example to her. That’s why I’m even doing this interview, you know? I used to get a lot of anxiety around having a conversation like this. And I want her to be able to look at me and be like, ‘My dad’s doing this."”
ZAYN welcomed daughter Khai with his ex-girlfriend Gigi Hadid in September 2020, and he says he’s really leaning into “being told I’m telling dad jokes.”
But the singer also says Khai has lit up his life. “We get to a certain point in our adult lives when everything gets kinda dull and gray and boring,” he notes. “And she’s brought that color back for me, for sure.”
ZAYN’s new song, “Love Like This,” comes out July 21.
Copyright © 2023, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.
