Louis Tomlinson says he was ‘absolutely crushed’ when Zayn Malik left One Direction

In an episode of “The Life of a CEO” podcast, the singer narrated how "everything was normal" for them on the eve before Zayn decided to quit the band.

"He was cool, wasn't like in a bad mood or anything like that, you know,” Louis recalled.

When he learned that Zayn was not coming for their endorsement shoot the next morning, Louis said it was not “something out of the ordinary.”

“If he didn’t want to do something, he literally wouldn’t do it,” he said.

“That's probably why he left the band, you know," he added. "And that's what I admire about him because if I was in his same situation, I would have probably put six plasters on it just to hope that we can stay playing happy families,” Louis said.

The “Back to You” singer said he wants “to know if he regrets it."

"[Zayn has] done really, really well like, but he must miss it. Like, he must," he said, admitting “It crushed me. It absolutely crushed me."

“It felt like, oh is this the beginning of the end of the band?” he added. “But also, this is like my best mate in the band at that time. So I lost a friend and someone in the band.”

Louis added that the end of One Direction “was awful” and that he “was grieving the band.”

“It was something that I really wanted that I couldn’t have anymore.”

One Direction was formed on “The X Factor” in 2010. Aside from Zayn and Louis, the members are Harry Styles, Niall Horan, and the late Liam Payne.

After Zayn left the band in 2015, "One Direction went on hiatus in 2016. The members have since been pursuing solo careers.

One Direction is the band behind the hits “What Makes You Beautiful,” “Night Changes,” “One Thing,” and many more.

Louis and Zayn are teaming up for a travel docuseries, where they will open up “about life, loss, and fatherhood.”

— Nika Roque/LA, GMA Integrated News