In a rare instance, popular musician Zyan Malik opened up about fatherhood in a recent podcast interview. The artiste talked about his daughter Khai, saying that he wants to set a good example for her. Zyan shares his daughter with model Gigi Hadid.
Speaking on the topic of fatherhood, he said, “Since I’ve had my daughter, the main thing in my mind is trying to be a good example to her. That’s why I’m even doing this interview, you know? I used to get a lot of anxiety around having a conversation like this. And I want her to be able to look at me and be like, ‘Yo, my dad’s doing this.’”
Zyan and Gigi started dating in 2015. Khai was born in 2020 and after her birth, Zyan and Gigi broke up owing to an altercation between Zayn and Gigi's mother Yolanda Hadid, stated reports.
When asked about one quality he is proud of as a dad, Zyan said in the interview, “I keep being told I’m telling dad jokes. And I’m leaning into it. I’m just like, ‘It’s OK. It’s cool.’ People just look at me like I’m a weirdo, and I’m like, ‘Yeah, I’m a dad, I’m allowed to tell these jokes now.’”
In September 2022, Gigi celebrated Khai's second birthday and she also mentioned Zayn’s name in an Instagram story. She wrote, “Our angel girl turned 2 today,” with emojis.
In the interview Zyan also opened up about leaving One Direction, saying, “I think I’ve known for a minute. Look I don’t want to go into too much detail, but there was a lot of politics going on, certain people were doing certain things, certain people didn’t want to sign contracts, so I knew something was happening.”
He added, “There was obviously underlying issues, like within our friendships, too. We’ve been together every day for five years, and we got sick of each other, if I’m being completely honest. So we were close.” Malik added that today, he can look back at the memories and experiences they shared in a “much fonder light.”