Teenage heart throb Zayne Malik is leaving One Direction. the 22-year-old told The Sun that the reason for his exit was because he wasn’t happy doing what he was for a while but stayed in the band for the sake of other people’s happiness.

“And that was mainly the fans. And I only ever tried to do it for the fans, and it was only ever for them,” he says. “And basically, I’m only upset (because) I feel like I may have let them down in some sort of way. That’s the main thing that I don’t want to happen. It’s not that I’ve turned my back on them or anything, it’s just that I just can’t do that anymore because it’s not real to me.”

“I am leaving because I want to be a normal 22-year-old who is able to relax and have some private time out of the spotlight,” he said, following recent cheating allegations concerning his relationship his fiancee Perrie Edwards. After the scandal broke out he dropped out of the tour citing “stress”.

He says that the band has been really supportive to him and “cool” about his decision.

Fans are heartbroken! There has been a meltdown on social media:

The other band members posted messages on social media with Liam Payne posting the most touching message of the group:
“To a lot of people it’s just a bunch of silly kids in a band but to the people involved it means so much more,” he wrote. “This last week has been some of the worst times, possibly the worst it’s something we are all deeply saddened by. It’s sad to think for the time being we won’t grace the stage as five bros or have the same fun on a tour bus or laughs in a hotel together that we have over the years but I’m super sure us and Zayn will always remain the closest friends. I guess what I’m really trying to say is it’s far from over.”

As part of an effort to keep the band together teen fans are trying to raise money to “buy” the band. The Buy 1D Go Fund Me page aims to raise$877.7 million in order to purchase the band from their management with #LetsBuyOneDirection being a worldwide trend on Twitter on Thursday after Malik left the band.

1D fans old enough to work requested leave from work as a result of the frustration they felt on account of Malik leaving the band.