One Direction singer Liam Payne has spoken warmly about Zayn Malik.

The singer left the boyband in March in order to live a more normal life.

The Brit has since signed a record deal with RCA and a solo career is now in the offing.

Speaking on BBC Radio 1 today (August 3), Payne said that they will always have a fondness for Malik.

He said: "Congratulations to him on his new record deal and stuff, it's cool."

When asked if they are still friends, Payne replied: "There's too much history for there not to be love."

Payne meanwhile added that he felt Malik's musical taste wasn't always aligned with One Direction.

He said: "One Direction was never Zayn's sort of music so he kind of always wanted to find something else. If your heart's not into something you can't just carry on doing it because of fame and stuff. You have to go and do what you want to do."

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