Zayn Malik's friends 'insist daughter Khai, 4, saved him and helped him turn his life around following concerns for his wellbeing' after One Direction exit

Daily Mail​

28-04-2025

Zayn Malik 's daughter Khai has reportedly been credited with 'saving him' by his friends and motivating him to turn his life around.
The singer, 32, welcomed four-year-old daughter Khai with ex-girlfriend Gigi Hadid, in September 2020 before the pair called it quits on their romantic relationship for good in October the following year.
Since leaving One Direction in March 2015, Zayn has battled crippling anxiety, faced concerns about his drug use and hit the headlines after being filmed during a shirtless altercation in New York.
While last year saw him dealing with the tragic death of his former bandmate Liam Payne, leading him to postpone his debut solo tour - the first in a number of delays to the tour.
But last month, Zayn successfully completed his Stairway to the Sky shows, concluding in Mexico City with the words: 'We got there'.
And now his daughter has been credited with helping him make the 'incredible turnaround', after fears that it could have 'gone so differently', according to The Sun.
A source told the publication: 'Friends inside and outside of the music industry are incredibly proud of the man Zayn has become.
'It could have all gone so differently - there have been genuine concerns for him over the years, but the storms he has weathered have given him strength and clarity.
'Finishing the tour was a huge hurdle for him to overcome. It's been an incredible turnaround. Fatherhood has been the making of him. Khai has absolutely saved him.'
Last year, Zayn himself explained how fatherhood had changed him, admitting Khai unlocked a love in him he'd never had before.
Opening up about his daughter on The Zach Sang Show, he said: 'I feel like my daughter brought that colour back in my life.
'She just makes me happy. I have so much love in me that I didn't have before she was born.
'She laughs all day. She wants to do the silliest things and she gains so much excitement from it. She just has a whole fresh perspective on life that had somewhat become grey for me.'
He added: 'She's a force of nature. She's given me maturity. She's forced my sensibility to become this mature father for her, this good responsible role model that takes accountability for their actions and sticks to their work and proves that my word is bond.'
Zayn splits custody with supermodel Gigi, 30, who he began dating in 2015, before a brief split in 2018 and again in 2019, and then a final separation in 2021.
Their decision to finally call things off once and for all was reportedly caused by tension between Zayn and and Gigi's mother, Yolanda Hadid.
Zayn was charged with four counts of harassment after he pleaded no contest to the charges after allegedly pushing Yolanda into a dresser and calling her a 'f*****g Dutch s**t' in September 2021.
Court documents revealed that he had to complete 360 days probation in addition to completing an anger management class.
However, the former couple seem to have put the drama behind them, with them now sharing an amicable co-parenting relationship.
Last month, Gigi shared rare insight into their co-parenting arrangement, saying that despite their split, they're raising their daughter Khai with 'love and camaraderie'.
Gracing the cover of Vogue's April 2025 issue, she explained they plan their custody schedules 'months in advance,' and they always 'have each other's backs' when it comes to raising their daughter.
Gigi shared that all of her work commitments are planning around the weeks she and Zayn have their daughter.
She said: 'Zayn and I do our custody schedules months in advance. That doesn't mean that it doesn't change here and there, but we help each other out and have each other's backs.'
She added that she and Zayn have entered the new phase of their partnership with 'love, and a feeling of camaraderie,' all the while aware that there will always be public interest in their relationship.
Alluding to Gigi then went onto allude to a row Zayn had with her mother Yolanda, where the singer was charged with four counts of harassment.
She said: 'There is the hard part of the world knowing this much, and thinking they know everything. And at the end of the day, we're not interested in giving everyone our whole story.'
She added: 'What we are interested in is raising our daughter together, with so much respect for each other, and not just as co-parents, but what we've been through together.'
The Sun also reports that Zayn has 'come a long way' since his feelings of resentment around One Direction, pointing to his emotional rendition of a 1D song last month.
Zayn shot to fame when he competed on The X Factor in 2010 and the judges put him into the boyband alongside Liam, Harry Styles, Niall Horan and Louis Tomlinson.
However, he left fans devastated in 2015 when he sensationally announced he was leaving the boyband in a bid to be a 'normal' then 22-year-old.
But during one of his final tour gigs last month, Zayn sent fans wild by performing Night Changes - the first One Direction song he'd performed in 10 years.
While the date of the gig showed a special significance, with 25 March being the exact date he left the boyband, a decade ago.
He delighted fans by belting out the 2014 track as a surprise opener, with clips online showing the crowd erupting into screams as he sang the first line.
And after the rendition, Zayn was emotional as he told the crowd: 'I haven't sung this song in 10 years. Thank you, that was amazing, I almost cried.'
And a source told The Sun: 'When Zayn first went solo, there's no way he would have wanted to sing a 1D song. Now, he's not afraid to admit it almost brought him to tears. He's come a long way'.