Music mogul Simon Cowell has given fans an update on how One Direction are doing now that they're back on the road touring as a four-piece act and admitted that they're handling things very well. 

During an interview with U.S. TV show Extra, the star explained that it's unlikely the boys will ever 'get over it', but he believes this bump in the road has definitely brought them closer together as a group:

"Well, I don’t think they’ll ever be over it completely because they started off as a five piece, so they’re always going to miss him. But it happens. You’ve got to dig deep and you rely on each other. In a weird way they kind of got stronger through it."

Cowell recently told 'Good Morning Britain' that 1D showed great strength in dealing with such a disruption to their line-up: "They're fine. They've showed their strength as human beings. When it happened, there was no warning. They were still doing these huge tours, and they dealt with it. They were upset and shocked, but they are fine with it."

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Watch Cowell talking about Malik's departure here: