Ex-Westlife member Markus Feehily has said that Zayn Malik was 'brave' to quit boyband One Direction.
He told the Daily Mail that Malik - who shaved off all of his hair in recent days - was 'ballsy' to leave the band at the height of their fame.
"I think he was very brave to have done what he did," he said. "To be part of a big massive band like that where there's millions and millions of pounds being made and these companies involved, it's quite difficult to stand up and say 'I'm going to stand up and step away'. You can often be too scared into not making that decision and so it was ballsy, like, no matter who doesn't like it he's doing it."
Feehily - who released his debut solo single 'Love is a Drug' on Friday - also recalled the time when Brian McFadden left Westlife.
"I remember when Brian left Westlife and we were really worried, thinking 'is this the beginning of the end? Is the dream we spent our whole life trying to get to going to be over?' but then we realised that we wanted to continue, so did the fans so we could go on. I think that's probably the case for One Direction... so they're not going anywhere."
Hear 'Love is a Drug' below: