It was mentioned on Breakfast that they get just 30 days a year at home in their own beds.

I'm in no way a fan of 1D but I'm not surprised. They seem to work non-stop and it must be very exhausting touring and living in hotels and hardly ever getting to see friends or family. If I had a job like that I'd go mad. I prefer to go home every night. Anyway I hope there isn't as much 1D (or should that be 0.8D? ) stuff on my Twitter today. My timeline was full of it yesterday

There's not many ways to make £15m in 5 years without working pretty hard you know.

Well of course, I never said they don't work hard.

But still. Simon shouldn't be so hard on his acts. If he gave them a little more break and freedom in the past, maybe Zayn wouldn't have been obviously so unhappy and fed up. It is not all about the money.

However, I just pointed that their tours aren't as demanding as they were for previous boybands because they never dance. The fact that they are selling stadiums and tones of merchandise shows their bigger popularity, hence the huge cash, that is all. Previous boybands didn't have huge stadium tours, just a stadiums here and there.

Being in a band that tours regularly would be hard work anyway, regardless of whether or not Simon manages

1D will struggle to be as successful as a four piece though. That's just the way it goes

I definitely agree on that but do they really need to do tours that last 8 months? That is what Simon does. But anyway, I think this is just the case of one guy who just can't handle the crazy boyband schedule.

It will be interesting how they will go on as a 4 piece.

The band will clearly miss him for his singing as he had the best voice and did all the high notes in their songs also.

In terms of charisma he won't be missed as Harry is clearly the most engaging personality wise. Liam and Harry can sing and Louis writes songs apparently. Niall though appearing not to have a good or great voice plays guitar although the jury is out actually just how well.

So if you see it from this angle they can cover Zayn leaving although in my opinion the weakest members are Louis and Niall and had it been either of them who left, musically there would be no difference in my opinion.

Looking at the ages boyband members leave either from sacked/solo/walked it's clear the 19 -25 range is the hardest age group to be in the industry or rather trying to be seen as 'perfect' as the young fans demand.

Charlie Simpson - Busted 19
Craig Logan - Bros 20
Sean Conlon - Five 20
Robbie Williams - Take That 21
Justin Timberlake - Nsync 21
Ronan Keating - Boyzone 22
Zayn Malik - One Direction 22
Brian Harvey - East 17 23
Brian McFadden - Westlife 24
Paul Marazzi - A1 27
Kevin Richardson - Backstreet Boys 35

Judging by that interview Zayn has done recently, I guess 1D themselves aren't planning to continue to do this a long time:

On discussing the band's future, Malik revealed: "They still want to do it for a while, so they're going to carry on doing what they want to do and I think they're going to do okay for a while."

Twice he mentioned "for a while" so maybe it really is a plan for new album + Greatest Hits and then the end.

If you look at who have had internationally successful solo careers from leaving a boyband Robbie, Justin and Ronan were 21/22.

Zayn being the same age and also straight away going into a recording studio (quick rest then!) I think truthfully perhaps maybe he wanted to go solo and not be part of the constrains of One Direction. His rest and just being a 22 year old could be the time out of the spotlight creating/finishing his solo album. I'm sure I'll be corrected if wrong but I believe Brian from Westlife said the same thing 'normal person focus on family life' and then 6 months later a solo single and album appeared.
The latest 'dramas' such as the drugs and cheating rumours may have made Zayn mind up to leave and start fresh solo. A new perspective on him as he's starting again but older now and like Robbie did can create his sound, image and how he wants to be perceived.

The others if they want a solo career could of course still achieve this later in their lives but as shown by Robbie, Ronan and Justin 21/22 seems to be the right age to move into a solo phase.

Maybe some of the others want to come out of the contract so fair play to Zayn for putting his foot down if he wasn't happy being the Zayn from One Direction character.

If he does have a solo career, he won't be under the pressure or have the same demanding schedule as One Direction do. I think a solo career would give him the best of both worlds - he can have more a "normal" life that he wouldn't get being in the band, but also still get to do what he loves to do.

Yep, you are right. He said he is leaving because he wants to take care of his wife and kids and then voila, six months later he released a debut single and his marriage was crumbling. To this day I think he was unfair to leave like that, he should have just been honest and say he is sick of Westlife ways and wants to do things on his own. And on top of that, he left just 2 weeks before the tour. The boys were rightfully pissed, especially Kian who even hit him.

But I honestly think this isn't the case with Zayn. He always looked very shy and uncomfortable under the spotlight so I doubt he was lying, I really think he just couldn't handled the 1D mania any more. Maybe in the future he will go solo but not right away.

'Making a mountain out of a mole hill' comes to mind

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/pe...-10136603.html

I think Ed Sheeran knows haha... Funny article this

http://www.ttthreads.com/2015/03/1d-goodbye-zayn/

Hahaha. Anything to get a day off.

Well well well, I stand corrected. Apparently he was photographed going into a recording studio:

http://www.people.com/article/zayn-m...-studio-misled

It will surely piss off 1D fans if this is true. He could have at least waited a month or until 1D tour is over to pursue a solo career...

I've heard for a month or two he's been working on things. I know initially it was a feature on a Naughty Boy track but reports were of more songs written for a solo project.

Apparently Harry has been writing songs with other people past few months also but don't know if that is for money on royalties for others, himself or the band.

I've noticed some people believe Harry is likely to go soon though haven't heard any of the other three mentioned just Harry. When the newspapers asked public half said they thought Harry might go soon. Maybe he was the one many expected to leave first.

Love the comment from The Version site

Good on Zayn for shunning the limelight to live a life of a normal 22 year old.

...Who also happens to have a solo career.

Reading Twitter is truly hilarious - the fans are actually calling Naughty Boy nasty names just because he was seen working with Zayn. I hope they do realize he isn't to blame but their precious Zayn.

He made a huge mistake leaving the way he did. I won't be surprised if 1D fans boycott his solo career. I mean, he left in the middle of the tour claiming he is stressed and tired, and the media commended him for speaking about the anxiety.

The whole thing just looks nasty and unfair, for the fans and other members. He left at the perfect time so he has a shot at massive career but the way he left is bad. However, I'm not entirely sure if he will have a great solo career because he has a horrible stage presence in my opinion. Always brooding and walking around the stage, his voice alone won't be enough.

Agree not sure he'll have a big solo career as he'll have to up his performance skills as he'll be expected to hold all of the attention now.

Also there is a new radio station that plays boybands 24/7 if anyone is interested. It also has some interesting profiles of groups from other countries as well as the massive ones.

http://www.boybandsradio.com/

Zayn leaving wasn't a mistake if he was clearly unhappy in the band. His solo career won't work out, simply because he doesn't have the charisma

Harry will be the Robbie of 1D, not the best singer but charismatic. Liam and Niall could do alright but the less said about Louis the better

I agree I think if you look at One Direction and Take That it could go like this

Harry: Robbie
Liam: Gary
Zayn: Mark
Niall: Howard
Louis: Jason

I think again mirroring Take That and how their solo careers have gone. I can see Harry being most successful then Liam and then Zayn.

Just to be clear, when I said it was mistake, I meant that the way he chose to leave was a mistake, not the decision itself. He could have just said he wants to pursue something on his own and not say he wants to be a normal 22 year old. This turned out to be a big deal, that he left because of anxiety and stress. That may be a part of it, but the main reason is that he left to have a solo career. If he was so stressed and tired, he wouldn't be going into a recording studio 2 days after he announced he is leaving. Plus, he truly did let his fans down since he quit in the middle of a tour to start on his own. Heck, it is even said he worked on 2 songs during the tour, of course he ws planning to do this for a while now.

Regarding everyone's solo efforts, it is so fickle that it is hard to predict anything. Maybe none of them will be huge, not even Harry. But I do think 1D will be over soon.

Some of 1D fans are truly wacko.

This has been trending for hours:

#NaughtyBoyDontEatZayn

They actually think Naughty Boy forced Zayn to leave 1D...

Delusional doesn't even cover what they are

Haha this is unintentionally brilliant

I'm sure Zayn suffering from stress and anxiety is true. None of us know what it's like to be 1D

I'm not saying he isn't suffering, I believe that is true. But since he is already working on a solo career shows he left because of that - the whole "I want to be normal 22 year old and live out of spotlight" is completely untrue. And he could have at least finished the tour out of respect for the fans. Is he stressed? Of course. But clearly not as much as it was stated. If you feel so bad that you have to leave the tour, then you don't immediately start a career.