Singer Zayn Malik has opened up about the things that started to play on his mind during his time in boyband One Direction. 

In a new revealing interview with Billboard, the star admitted that he was annoyed at how he and the other 1D lads weren't able to be completely authentic: “It was like a f**king machine going constantly.”

“We weren’t allowed to say certain things, or word [lyrics] the way we would want to. I’d sit and wonder, ‘If the fans knew how it worked, what would they think?’ My argument was: People are more intelligent than that. They want to hear what’s real, so why don’t we write some stuff that we’re actually going through?”

Referring to having fans of his own now that he has split from the group, Malik added: "It’s a bit different now because they’re there for just me. I can’t jump in a car and be like, ‘Yeah! Just take a picture with one of them boys.’ I want to do it now.”

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Watch Malik's Fader shoot here: