It was the interview One Direction fans had been waiting for – all four remaining members of the band sat down with their pal James Corden for an interview on Thursday’s Late Late Show.
And it didn’t take long for Corden to grill them about Zayn Malik’s departure from the band.
“Are you in touch with him, have you spoken to him?” he asked Louis Tomlinson.
“Yeah, there’s been a bit of back and forth,” he said, as the audience laughed at what he didn’t mention – the pair’s run-ins on social media. “I think we’re on good terms with him.”
When Corden asked about the Twitter feud, Tomlinson smiled and said, “I’ve never been very good at biting my tongue, maybe I get it off my mom. It’s just one of those things. Twitter’s great for connecting with the fans but also if you feel like saying something you probably shouldn’t, it’s also good for that as well. Or bad in this case.”
But Tomlinson added that he has been in touch with Malik since then and “it’s all good in the hood.”
Liam Payne then explained how he felt when he learned that Malik was leaving the group.
“At first we were a little bit angry. We were surprised, but I think we all knew the general vibe that Zayn was feeling,” he said. “There were certain parts of this job that Zayn loved and certain parts of the job that he didn’t. If you don’t like your job, you’ve got to follow your heart sometimes and go where you need to go. There’s no argument with that.”
He admitted that the band was disappointed, but insisted there were no hard feelings: “We wish him the best of luck with whatever he gets up to.”
See One Direction Throughout the Years
Louis Tomlinson, Liam Payne, Harry Styles, Niall Horan and Zain Malik of One Direction perform at the BBC Teen Awards at Wembley arena in London, England in 2011.Dave Hogan—Getty ImagesOne Direction perform at the BBC Teen Awards at Wembley arena in London, England in 2011.Dave Hogan—Getty ImagesOne Direction perform at the BBC Teen Awards at Wembley arena in London, United Kingdom in 2011.Dave Hogan—Getty ImagesOne Direction perform at the BBC Teen Awards at Wembley arena in London, United Kingdom in 2011.Dave Hogan—Getty ImagesZayn Malik of One Direction performs at Nickelodeon's 25th Annual Kids' Choice Awards held at Galen Center in Los Angeles, Calif. in 2012.Christopher Polk—KCA2012/Getty ImagesLouis Tomlinson, Niall Horan, Harry Styles, Liam Payne and Zayn Malik of One Direction perform at HMV Hammersmith Apollo in London, England in 2012.Joseph Okpako—FilmMagic/Getty ImagesLouis Tomlinson, Zayn Malik, Niall Horan, Liam Payne and Harry Styles of One Direction pose during a portrait shoot at Fox Studios in Sydney, Australia in 2012.Sam Ruttyn—Newspix/Getty ImagesZayn Malik of One Direction performs on NBC's Today at Rockefeller Plaza in New York City in 2012.Slaven Vlasic—Getty ImagesOne Direction performs onstage during Z100's Jingle Ball 2012 at Madison Square Garden on in New York City in 2012.Kevin Kane—Getty Images for Jingle Ball 201One Direction speaks onstage during the 2013 MTV Video Music Awards at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn in 2013.Theo Wargo—WireImage/Getty ImagesOne Direction performs onstage during the 2013 American Music Awards at Nokia Theatre L.A. Live in Los Angeles, Calif. in 2013.Christopher Polk—AMA2013/Getty ImagesOne Direction performs at the stage during their presentation as part of the tour "Where We Are Tour" at Velez Sarsfield Stadium on May 03, 2014 in Buenos Aires, Argentina.Cesar Quiroga—LatinContent/Getty ImagesGuitarist Dan Richards and Niall Horan of One Direction perform onstage during the "Where We Are" tour at Met Life Stadium on Aug. 4, 2014 in New York City.Kevin Mazur—OneD/Getty ImagesZayn Malik of One Direction performs onstage during the "Where We Are" tour at Met Life Stadium on Aug. 4, 2014 in New York City. Kevin Mazur—OneD/Getty ImagesZayn Malik, Louis Tomlinson, Liam Payne, Niall Horan and Harry Styles on the One Direction TV special in 2014.Jeff Daly—NBC/Getty ImagesNiall Horan of One Direction performs onstage during the 2014 iHeartRadio Music Festival at the MGM Grand Garden Arena on Sept. 20, 2014 in Las Vegas, NV.Denise Truscello—WireImage/Getty ImagesNiall Horan of One Direction performs onstage during the 2014 iHeartRadio Music Festival at the MGM Grand Garden Arena on Sept. 20, 2014 in Las Vegas, NV.Christopher Polk—Getty ImagesLiam Payne, Harry Styles, Zayn Malik, Louis Tomlinson and Niall Horan of One Direction perform onstage during the 2014 iHeartRadio Music Festival at the MGM Grand Garden Arena on Sept. 20, 2014 in Las Vegas, NV.Kevin Mazur—WireImage/Getty ImagesNiall Horan of One Direction appears on NBC's Today Show to release their new album "Four" at Universal City Walk At Universal Orlando on Nov. 17, 2014 in Orlando, Fla.John Parra—WireImage/Getty ImagesAmy Adams and One Direction members Zayn Malik, Liam Payne, Harry Styles, Louis Tomlinson and Niall Horan appear on Saturday Night Live on Dec. 18, 2014.Dana Edelson—NBC/Getty ImagesHarry Styles performs on Saturday Night Live on Dec. 18, 2014.Dana Edelson—NBC/Getty ImagesLouis Tomlinson, Liam Payne, Harry Styles, Zayn Malik and Niall Horan of One Direction perform on Saturday Night Live on Dec. 18, 2014.Dana Edelson—NBC/Getty Images
Niall Horan told Corden that he hadn’t thought of calling it quits when Malik left. “The four of us love every part of it and the shows have been great on the tour,” he said. “We’re looking forward to bringing out a new record, going on more tours and stuff and we’re really enjoying it.”
Then Corden asked Harry Styles if they’d thought of bringing someone else into the band – “maybe a British guy, with the voice of an angel; dance is his life.”
“No,” Styles quickly replied.
“Not even for a split second,” Corden pressed.
“No,” said Styles.
And that prompted Corden to pat Tomlinson on the arm and say, “You’ve always been my favorite.”