After coming to the realization that partying is taking a toll on his health, Zayn Malik is trying to change his eating habits and lifestyle in an attempt to take better care of himself.
The 23-year-old former One Direction member has reportedly been overwhelmed since starting his solo career. He had even taken his name off of the list of singers scheduled to perform at the Capital FM Summertime Ball due to anxiety.
Malik recently said, “I’ve not been feeling too well recently because I’ve been partying too much and not looking after myself and eating enough food. I’m just trying to take care of myself,” he said in an interview with Paper magazine.
“There’ve been a few moments where I’ve been really taken aback… I feel like everybody looks for some sort of approval from some form in their life, and my fans are my approval. It’s a sense of achievement that you can’t really explain.”
Meanwhile, the artist is also happy about changing his appearance after his time with One Direction, although his beard makes him look older.
“Facial hair was a weird thing. I think it’s ’cause I just looked old. And they didn’t like that. [And] I always wanted a beard! I think every dude does when they’re young. Seeing Al Pacino in ‘Carlito’s Way‘ — I needed the goatee after that. I was like, ‘I wanna be Al Pacino.’ I’ve always been obsessed with that, and I had to shave it off. I used to get a bit sad,” he jokingly stated.
Malik is also taking it easy from the dating front. When asked about his relationship with Gigi Hadid, he added: “I find intelligence attractive. When I learn something from somebody and they teach me something, that’s an attractive thing for me.”