One Direction heartthrob Zayn Malik has opened up on his shyness and how that shapes the perception people have of him.

The singer has often been lumped with a 'bad boy' tag due to perhaps not effusing the same sort of enthusiasm as the other band members.

In an interview with Dan Wootton for Now magazine, the 'Live While We're Young' star said that he is actually just a bit "shy and awkward" and this sometimes gives people the wrong impression. Speaking about having a 'bad boy' image, Malik said:

"But it's cool. I'll take it. I think my reserved personality is sometimes taken the wrong way and that's why people just perceive me as a bad boy whereas I'm actually just a little bit shy and awkward."

As previously reported, One Direction recently announced that they would be releasing the song 'Little Things' as the second single from their forthcoming new album 'Take Me Home'.