He gave his first interview in 6 years to the Call Her Daddy podcast

It's been a while since we've heard from Zayn Malik, but the former One Direction member is back on the music scene with a new single 'Love Like That' due next week.

It's been six years, in fact, since Malik gave his last interview but that was remedied earlier this week when he appeared on the Call Her Daddy podcast.

During the conversation, he spoke about the reasons behind his decision to leave One Direction in 2015, saying that they were "sick of each other" having spent so many years together.

"There was a lot of … look, I don’t want to go into too much detail, but there was a lot of politics going on," he said. "Certain people were doing certain things, certain people didn’t want to sign contracts, so I knew something was happening. So I just got ahead of the curve."

He added: "If I’m being honest with you, I was like, ‘I’m just going to get out of here.’ I think this is done and I just seen it, and I completely selfishly wanted to be the first person to go and make my own record if I’m being completely honest with you. I’m a passive dude, but when it comes to my music and my business, I’m serious about it and I’m competitive, so I wanted to be the first to go and do my own thing."

However, the part of the interview that has really sent people - particularly American listeners - into a tailspin has been his pronunciation of the word 'daughter'.

Malik, who is from Bradford, shares a 2-year-old daughter, Khai, with his former partner Gigi Hadid, and said that is his priority, adding: "Certain things in life can change your perspective on things. For me, ever since I had my daughter, the main thing on my mind has been to be a good example to her. After having a child, I had to step up as a man and as a person, and be this example to her who doesn’t succumb to these feelings (of anxiety). That’s why I am even doing this interview. I used to get a lot of anxiety having a conversation like this just in this kind of environment. I want her to be able to look at me and be like, my dad is doing this and he’s the man, a cool guy."