Speaking at the X Factor launch, Simon Cowell commented “I’m not in touch with Zayn. Once we’d made the decision that he was going to be on a different part of Sony, which is good for him, my responsibility was obviously the guys and their next record. But Zayn is going to be fine.”

This news comes after Simon touched on the guys plans for their upcoming hiatus:

“I think Louis, I know, wants to be an A&R guy – run a label – because he was always going to be good at that. I haven’t gone into too much detail with the others… when you actually take time off, you’ve got to take time off. Every one of them can do what they want. I think they’ll miss each other. They are the nicest, nicest guys.”