Former One Direction member Zayn Malik has sparked significant online discussion after addressing whether he was ‘in love’ with Gigi Hadid during their intermittent relationship spanning five years.
Malik appeared on Alex Cooper’s renowned podcast, Call Her Daddy, on February 11, via YouTube, to share insights about various aspects of his life, including his experiences on his Pennsylvania farm, his liking for fireworks, and his relationship with Hadid, which lasted from 2015 until their separation in 2021.
Malik and Hadid have a daughter, Khai, who was born in 2020. Since their breakup, Gigi has been dating actor Bradley Cooper since 2023.
During the podcast episode, Cooper questioned Malik about a past statement he made regarding his view on relationships.
“You said in an interview that you don’t know if you’ve ever truly been in love,” she queried. “Do you still stand by that?”
This refers to Malik’s appearance on The Zach Sang Show in 2024, where he expressed uncertainty about having ‘actually truly been in love at this point’.
He elaborated: “You look back at it with new eyes and you’re like, ‘Well, maybe I wasn’t in love there’. Was it love or is it life experience that we are going through? Who knows. We’re just in situations where we look back with different eyes and it’s a completely different situation.”
Malik maintains his initial perspective, responding: “Yeah. My understanding of love is always developing. At that moment in time, I might have thought it was love, but as I got older, I realised maybe it wasn’t. Maybe it was lust. Maybe it was this, maybe it was that. I don’t feel like it was love.”
Discussing his former partner, Malik stated: “To be fair, just to have this on the record, I will always love G, because she is the reason my child is on this earth. I have the utmost respect for her, and I will always love her … but I don’t know if I was ever in love with her.
“I do love her a crazy amount, but no, I don’t think I was in love with her.”
Online reactions have been mixed, with some labeling his admission as ‘diabolical’. One user on X commented: “How does he claim to have upmost respect for her and goes on podcast telling the PUBLIC he never loved her…. Mind you his daughter will have to see this one day….”
Another person remarked: “Saying you love her but u were never in love with her is diabolical.”
Conversely, some have shown understanding, with a user noting: “since people love to take things zayn says out of context- he never said he wasn’t in love with gigi at the time. he actually said he thought it was love. his point was that his understanding of love has developed and now he doesn’t know if he was truly in love.”
Efforts have been made to reach out to the representatives of Malik and Hadid for further comments.