The singer, 31, shocked fans a decade ago when he stepped away from the world-famous band. He embarked on a solo career and spent recent years away from the spotlight. Now, it appears Zayn is ready to connect with Niall Horan, Liam Payne, Harry Styles and Louis Tomlinson again.

He is said to be looking for “forgiveness and friendship” following their unique experience together since finding fame on The X Factor in 2010. Zayn cited “stress” as the reason behind his shock exit and One Direction went on an indefinite hiatus less than a year later. The dad-of-one is looking to rebuild the friendship they once had, according to insiders.

“He is trying to figure out the best way to reach out because it will be odd, weird, and uncomfortable, but it is something that has been on his mind,” a source told Daily Mail. “Whether that leads them to working together again musically is one thing, but Zayn’s reasoning is to become friends with his mates that he did so much with.”

They insisted a working relationship is “not important” to Zayn right now, he just wants to “be friends again”. Zayn was just 17-years-old when the boy band was formed and upon leaving the group, he admitted he wanted to be a “normal 22-year-old”. He went on to have solo success with number one track PillowTalk and album Made In Mind. The pop star went on to welcome his daughter Kahi with supermodel Gigi Hadid.

One Direction were formed on X Factor in 2010 ( Image: UK Press via Getty Images)

Zayn decided to step away from the group to ‘be a normal 22-year-old’ ( Image: WWD via Getty Images)

“She’s a force of nature,” Zayn recently said of his daughter. “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.”

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Zayn suffered from an eating disorder while in 1D and had to cancel solo gigs because of his crippling anxiety. One of his darkest moments was in 2021, when he entered a no contest plea to four charges of harassment against Gigi’s mother Yolanda Hadid. “I think when you get a level of acceptance and love for yourself, then it’s easier,” Zayn said of his mental well-being. “It’s not as much of a struggle. It’s been a development over the last years for me. I just got sick of just feeling like there was a cloud over my head.”

He recently shared his regrets over how he left things with his famous bandmates. Zayn confessed to US radio host Zach Sang: “The main thing that I always feel bad about when I look back over my life is not enjoying the band enough. I feel like I just took things too seriously and I’m grateful that I’m able to be happier now. I had this teen angst thing going on, a chip on my shoulder where I’m like, ‘It’s really cool to just be moody as f*** all the time.’”

“We were young kids that were just thrown into this situation,” Zayn said. “Now I can look at it in a positive light and be like, ‘All these guys came from similar backgrounds to me. They had nothing. They worked their asses off’. [But] we resented each other to a certain degree because [we felt] we were solo artists that were put in a band. But] It should have never been a competition. We should have always been there for each other. I’ve become a more compassionate, caring person. And the thing that I learned is… I could have done that earlier.”