It's no secret that One Direction skyrocketed to fame faster than its members really had time to process. According to Insider, the band released five albums in just five years (which is almost unheard of in an era of EPs and two-year album cycles). Between 2010 and 2012, its members went from being non-famous reality TV show contestants to literally closing out the Olympics.
However, Malik has claimed that this whirlwind ended up tearing them apart. In an interview with British Vogue, Malik admitted that by the time he quit the band in 2015, he felt numb on stage in front of 80,000 screaming fans: "We went from theatres, to arenas, to stadiums — there was never any sort of bridge between. Just boom, boom, boom. I guess that kind of progression to any mind ... it kind of affects you a little bit. People take it different ways — especially when there are five different personalities." He added, "The relationships had broken apart."
Malik wasn't the only one who felt this way. In an interview with KISS FM (via the Evening Standard), Laim Payne revealed that he'd struggled with performing again after One Direction announced its hiatus, because fame had been so difficult the first time around. "It scared the living daylights out of me," he said. "Because the last time it nearly killed me, frankly."
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