Well, well, well. Zayn Malik only just announced his very emotional departure from One Direction on Tuesday afternoon. This was the end of a 5-year run for what’s widely considered to be the best voice of the band. Teenage girls everywhere overreacted over the loss of their man. People worried about Zayn’s emotional state and wondered why he’d make such a drastic move in the middle of a world tour. As for Zayn himself? He didn’t wait around for the dust to settle. Dude was spotted heading into a London recording studio yesterday. He’s working on solo material with Naughty Boy (the songwriter who helped launch Sam Smith’s career). Oh.

Zayn also dropped an interview (a subscription piece) with The Sun. He’s really “upset” about letting his fans down — because they’re the reason why he stayed so long. He thinks the rest of the band will be “cool” without him: “It’s not that I’ve turned my back on them or anything, it’s just that I can’t do that any more because it’s not real to me.” He’s wanted out for a long time, and he’s fine. “I’ve never felt more in control in my life. I feel like I’m doing what’s right, right by myself and right by the boys.” Zayn insists there’s no drama between him and the other dudes.

No drama? People says the other 1D members feel differently about the situation:

Just a day after Zayn Malik announced that he was quitting One Direction because he wanted “to be a normal 22-year-old who is able to relax and have some private time out of the spotlight,” the singer was spotted walking into a recording studio on Thursday.

And that has fans and those around Malik feeling more than a little confused about his real reasons for leaving the band.

“He told everyone in the band and management that he wants to live a normal life and the next thing you know he’s going into music studios and doing interviews with tabloids,” a source close to the band tells People.

“Everyone feels a bit misled and thinks he was lying about wanting to live a normal life,” the source adds.

The other four members of the band — Louis Tomlinson, Liam Payne, Harry Styles and Niall Horan — released a statement after Mailk’s departure wishing him well and saying that they “will always be friends,” but that might not be the case anymore.

The source says that Malik is “very easily led” and there might be some people around him who are “trying to get him to do stuff and manipulate him.”

As the remaining members of the band close ranks and look towards recording a new album, the source says, “everyone feels played by him. Louis and Zayn are friends and will talk but the rest probably won’t.”

[From People]

So Louis and Zayn will stay buddies, but what about Harry Styles? Poor Harry! My daughter says she doesn’t buy the Zayn and Harry friendship that was pushed in videos and onstage. She thinks they were pushed together as the two lead singers. I feel SO played.

One of The X Factor judges, Louis Walsh, spoke up about Zayn’s mad dash from the band. Walsh believes Perrie Edwards pushed Zayn to go solo: “What I found in the past is as things get on, and as they get girlfriends, the girlfriends are whispering things in their ears and saying like ‘You should be a solo star,’ ‘You should be the lead singer’ – that’s usually the problem.” Sexist much? But Walsh knows the biz. He previously managed Boyzone and Westlife and adds, “The first few years are usually great and then people always want to be the solo star.”

Rolling Stone resurrected a “lost” 2012 interview where Zayn talks about how he never imagined being famous: “I literally went for an experience thing on the show and just hoped that … I guess I just got lucky.” At the time, Zayn semi-regretted not going to college in majoring in English. Uh-huh. Zayn is the Ginger Spice of One Direction.

Photos courtesy of WENN