Multi-platinum recording artist Zayn joins Call Her Daddy for his first sit-down interview in nearly 6 years. From Alex's childhood home in Pennsylvania, he opens up about his surprisingly quiet life in PA, his pre-fame days, his X Factor audition, his reflections on his time with One Direction, and his decision to leave the group. Zayn also discusses the impact of fame on his mental health, proudly sharing his experiences as a father and how it has shifted his priorities. With his highly anticipated new music on the horizon, Zayn provides insight into his inspirations. Get ready to discover a whole new side of Zayn, zaddy gang ;)
Chapter 1: Who are the hosts and guests in this episode?
what is up daddy gang it is your founding father alex cooper with call her daddy hey Zane, welcome to Call Her Daddy.
Hey.
I'm so happy that you're here. We have to preface this with my fans are watching this like, where the fuck are you guys? We are in my childhood home, Daddy Gang, okay? Zane and I are in my living room that I grew up in. Zane got here and has had to look at all the embarrassing childhood photos of me. Thank you so much for coming. I've never done an interview.
There was no embarrassing photos for the record. What did you say? I didn't see any embarrassing photos. I think you hid them all.
Actually, there's a couple. You'll see them on your way out and then you'll never look at me the same. I have never done a podcast in my childhood home. So this feels like a little sentimental. Also, you never really do interviews. I don't. When is the last time you did something like this?
I think I did an interview like six years ago. It was the last time I did one.
So we're kind of like popping the cherry back off.
I think so. Yeah. Something like that.
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Chapter 2: Why did Zayn choose to live in Pennsylvania over trendy cities?
So you're living in Pennsylvania and I obviously grew up here. I loved it growing up. It's very family oriented, very suburban. But I'm curious to know, like, of all the trendy spots that you could have picked, why Pennsylvania?
Yeah, it's interesting. A lot of people ask me that. They always think it's super random that I live out here. I ended up coming out here with my ex a bit, and I fell in love with it. It was just super calm and chill, like you said, suburban. And I just wanted to take a break from the busy city, because I was living in New York for three years at the time.
and um it just got a bit overwhelming you know like going out of your door to like just craziness all the time so i just wanted a bit more like um of a surrounding that like i'm used to like where i grew up um in bradford like in in the uk it's a lot more this kind of pace and vibe so um i feel like i just fit in better around here than i do in the trendy spots as it as it as it were you know
Yeah, you give trendy vibes. But I think I totally relate to that of like sometimes when you get to it.
I'll take that.
Yeah, yeah.
I give trendy vibes.
You give trendy vibes. Like look at your outfit. It's like pretty swaggy. But then you're also like hanging with the Amish folk. So it's like a good little juxtaposition, Zane. But what I find interesting is I love that you said like you would be in New York City and I'm assuming you would be going out and there's paparazzi everywhere taking photos of you. Pennsylvania, there ain't no paparazzi.
Yeah, that's a great thing.
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Chapter 3: What does a typical day look like for Zayn in Pennsylvania?
want to be there you know no I get that I feel like that's also growing up like I was recently talking to some of my audience I was meeting them in person and we're like it's kind of weird when you just start to grow up you just get more specific with who you want to spend your time with I think that's a healthy thing obviously you're on a even bigger stage because you were around millions of people in stadiums and tours and everything but I also think that's kind of relatable it's like you know what sometimes I want to be alone and then I'll still hang with people but like you got to be good company
Yeah, I've always thought like it would be, you know, a pretty normal reaction to feel that way around so many people. I think anybody who was like overwhelmed in that manner would feel, you know, a certain type of way about it. But I'm definitely learning to manage it a lot better. Like as I'm getting older, like it's more of a choice, you know, rather than a hindrance.
It's not like I can't do that. It's like I'd rather prefer not to.
Yeah, that makes sense.
I own it a bit more, yeah.
you obviously love music, but can you share with us like what are some of your other hobbies? What are you passionate about? What's other than music?
Like my main passion I think outside of music is art. I love to paint and I love to draw. I do a bit of cooking.
Okay, tell me one of your dishes. Come on, I can't cook for shit.
I can cook a lot of different things, but I like to cook meat, like, specifically. Like, I have a smoker outside and I like to smoke, like, lamb and I cook, like, my, like, I'll do, like, grilled vegetables with it and stuff. Oh, shit.
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Chapter 4: What are Zayn's hobbies and passions outside of music?
Yeah, fully on my lap, yeah. She died on my lap.
So you weren't crazy for going to the vet?
No, yeah, she had something wrong with her. We tried to rescue them. They were going to be slaughtered, I think. And they had all kinds of things wrong with them, yeah. But I've got new chickens now, and they're all healthy and stuff, but I didn't name them for that reason.
Okay, and what are the names of the cats?
Salem, Dobby, and Vito.
Dobby, is that from Harry Potter?
Harry!
That's so good. You're a Harry Potter fan.
I'm a big Harry Potter fan.
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Chapter 5: How did Zayn's upbringing in Bradford shape his identity?
You've got to be able to, like, hold your own.
Exactly, yeah.
And when you say people are coming at you, is it more like peer dynamics of, or is it more like authoritative figures?
Yeah, there's a balance, a mix, sorry, of everything. It depends, you know, there's the peer pressure in schools and stuff, but then it's on the street. If you go out there and stuff, if you're just trying to have a good time, you know, like, it's not as...
friendly phone you know it's a bit more like irate there's a bit of aggression going on you know what I mean talk to me about where you grew up like are you in an apartment are you in a condo are you in a home I grew up in a terraced house um
uh in a rented property and we never owned our own house um so yeah it was it was a small house there was like three bedrooms kitchen living room but the streets like are all like every house is like stuck next to the one next to it you know i'm saying there's no space you have a garden that's like like enough for maybe a dog to sit in um so yeah it's a bit different for sure yeah
So you have three sisters. Okay. And so you are the one boy and three sisters. What was it like growing up with all mostly women around you? Like, how do you think that shaped you?
um i feel like i learned a lot of things like early on um my sisters are very opinionated you know they're very um strong characters um and uh yeah i love them they're great they're doing a lot of fun yeah it was always entertaining in our house for sure i love
I really love when I meet a guy and you can just tell that he has sisters because you can just tell the way they move around women. You guys learned what a fucking tampon is earlier.
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Chapter 6: When did Zayn discover his passion for singing and how did X Factor start his career?
Yeah, I think I got on with pretty much everyone, but I wasn't like, I was the type of person who only had like two, three close friends. I didn't have like a big group. Like I knew people, people knew of me. I don't think I was the cool kid, but I wasn't bullied either. Yeah, like if people knew me, they were friendly with me. Yeah.
I feel like a lot of kids, we always have that like memory thing
maybe it's financial, maybe it's something with the parents or the siblings or extended family, like of like a childhood memory that you remember your family kind of just being like stressed or going through something difficult, kind of like if you could remember kind of a childhood memory that you remember just being like stressed about something in your life.
Like looking back at like childhood stresses, like I feel like a lot of them were so like finicky that it was just probably just some teenage shit, you know what I mean? It wasn't anything important. So I don't really look back at things like that in my personality, the way I am. Like I've never really like looked back and been like, oh yeah, this is one thing that like kind of was, you know,
stressful thing I think life is interesting like that I think you know it depends on what you're going through at that time and how you feel and then you can reflect on it at a different point and feel completely differently about it it's so interesting I have a lot of respect even for you answering it like that because I know that you've been open about like at one point your family being on food stamps and
And I feel like a lot of people would sit here and that may have been the answer, right? That would have been like, well, fuck, like I couldn't even, I didn't know where my next meal was. And you're like, oh, you know, maybe it was childish shit, like no big deal.
And it's like, that's interesting if you... Yeah, no, and obviously there is, there was some serious things like that for sure too, but I don't look back at it in terms of a negative light, you know, it all helped to like shape and mold who I am and make me grateful for the things that I have now, you know?
Yeah. So we are here because you can sing. When did you first realize you were passionate about singing and you could sing?
I think I was about 11, 12. I'd sung a little bit before, like I'd done a bit in school choir and stuff. Funny story, I actually fancied these three girls that were in choir, and they were triplets, and that's why I just was like, I'm gonna be in choir just so I can hang around these girls.
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Chapter 7: How did Zayn's life change after joining One Direction?
I need to just, yeah, spend this time here.
Right. So like your natural, just like boy interest ended up, you realized something that you had a true talent. From the triplets to X Factor, you made it. So it's so funny, too, because you say you wouldn't be where you are without your mom because you didn't want to get out of bed the morning that you had the X Factor audition and your mom made you go. Why did you also not want to go initially?
I think it was just nerves. I built it up in my head and I was like, yo, this is a massive thing. And yeah, I was like, I don't think I'm going to go today. And my mom's like, you are going, you're going right now. You're going to go see what happens. So yeah, definitely owe it to her for that, for sure.
Oh my God. And so did you like practice? You were practicing for it?
Yeah. But I had no idea, no clue. Like they told us like we had to have like a backing track. like a karaoke version. And like, I was so like inexperienced at that time that I didn't even know what that was. So like, I was just planning on singing acapella. So I was just gonna do it like without anything. And it was so weird for me to adjust to singing on a backing track.
I was like, this is such a weird experience. I think even Simon looked at me a little bit weird. Like when I did the acapella, cause everybody had backing tracks and stuff, but yeah.
So that probably made you stand out though.
I don't know. It could have worked either way. Maybe it made me sound really bad too.
Well, obviously not. Look where you're fucking sitting.
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Chapter 8: What impact did sudden fame have on Zayn's mental health and outlook?
Yeah, I do. Mario, Let Me Love You. And the reason I said that is because I've seen that performance back a few times and cringed every time I watched it. So yeah, it's not my best vocal performance. There's a lot of nerves involved there for sure.
But clearly there was something in there, Zayn.
There's some talent. Yeah, there's some potential.
Acapella and he just nails it. When you look back at that moment, obviously, is it surreal? If you even had to watch it back, does it even feel like a lifetime ago?
Yeah, it does. It feels like so much longer than it actually was because so much stuff's happened in that time. Yeah, it's very interesting, very surreal. And I feel all them nerves again when I watch it. I feel like I could give myself a hug and be like, It's okay, bro. Cause I literally, I'm like holding onto the mic for dear life. Please, nobody hurt me.
It's so good. It's so good. So obviously then X Factor, everyone, Simon, everyone came to you guys and they had this idea to invent One Direction. And then I think people don't, I don't even know, like, did you even meet anyone before they put you guys together?
Yeah, we knew each other, like, just from around. Okay. Because we were, like, a similar age and stuff. So naturally you speak to people who are, like, a similar age to you around there and stuff. And we were at boot camp together and I met Harry on my audition day because we both auditioned in Manchester. And we were literally sat next to each other in the audition.
Oh, so it was like fucking meant to be.
He was sat right next to me. We spoke and I went in and did like a producing audition round. And then he went in straight after me and we spoke a little bit there. Yeah.
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