Finally, One Direction's puppet-master – sorry – close friend and musical mentor, has talked about the shock departure of Zayn Malik, which broke the internet as well as hearts all over the world. Speaking to Sugarscape, the mogul said: 'He's a fantastic singer. Look, he's got to get his head together a little bit. He needs some time on his own, as he said, to be a normal 22-year-old, which he's gonna have.'
Yeah, just taking some time and recording music with Naughty Boy like every normal 22 year old. Anyway, we're happy for him provided he's not being jetting all over the world looking like a haunted shell of a man (which, let's face it, he was towards the end of his 1D career). Simon continued: 'I've always said to all of them, the future's bright depending on what you want to do – we've always hoped that One Direction would stay together for a long time and my hunch is it still will. They're just too good for everything to stop now.'
Is that a warning? Hmm. Hopefully the rest of the band are feeling pre-etty mentally strong after their mate quit, because it seems like they'll be pumping out albums for a few years to come yet. There's money to be made, of course. Also, Simon finished by confirming that the boys are all OK (although he would, wouldn't he): 'They were surprised and shocked but now they've ... got used to it," he continued, "and they're being professional and respecting the fans who turned up to see a great show -- and that's what they're doing.'
In case you want to get that last bit of emotion out, here's Harry Styles crying on stage after Zayn announced that he'd left:
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This article originally appeared on The Debrief.