![2010: 17-year-old Zayn Malik almost sleeps through his audition for The X Factor, but his mum forces him to get out of bed at the last minute. He sings Mario's 'Let Me Love You', and makes it to the next round.]()
2010: 17-year-old Zayn Malik almost sleeps through his audition for The X Factor, but his mum forces him to get out of bed at the last minute. He sings Mario's 'Let Me Love You', and makes it to the next round.
![2010: Malik falls foul of Simon Cowell after storming off during the dancing audition because he]()
2010: Malik falls foul of Simon Cowell after storming off during the dancing audition because he "feels like an idiot." He eventually reluctantly returns.
![2010: Malik is eliminated before the competition's final round, but judges decide to group him with fellow competitors Harry Styles, Niall Horan, Liam Payne and Louis Tomlinson - none of whom know each other - to form a band.]()
2010: Malik is eliminated before the competition's final round, but judges decide to group him with fellow competitors Harry Styles, Niall Horan, Liam Payne and Louis Tomlinson - none of whom know each other - to form a band.
![2010: After gaining a fanbase of an unprecedented size and fervour, One Direction finish third in the competition. Zayn Malik tells presenter Dermot O'Leary,]()
2010: After gaining a fanbase of an unprecedented size and fervour, One Direction finish third in the competition. Zayn Malik tells presenter Dermot O'Leary, "This isn't the last of One Direction." He's right.
![February 2011: One Direction sign to Simon Cowell's label SyCo in a 2 million pound deal.]()
February 2011: One Direction sign to Simon Cowell's label SyCo in a 2 million pound deal.
![August 2011: The band's first single, 'What Makes You Beautiful', becomes an international hit, and introduces the band to the US.]()
August 2011: The band's first single, 'What Makes You Beautiful', becomes an international hit, and introduces the band to the US.
![November 2011: The band's debut album, Up All Night, becomes the UK's fastest selling debut album of the year, and reaches No.1 in the US.]()
November 2011: The band's debut album, Up All Night, becomes the UK's fastest selling debut album of the year, and reaches No.1 in the US.
![December 2012: One Direction finish their first full year as a band with two of the year's top five best selling albums in the US, after the release of their second album, Take Me Home.]()
December 2012: One Direction finish their first full year as a band with two of the year's top five best selling albums in the US, after the release of their second album, Take Me Home.
![April 2013: Malik's Pakistani heritage and Muslim identity are used as ammunition for racist online attacks. Twitter users bombard him with racist slurs and terrorist jokes, and he temporarily deletes his Twitter account.]()
April 2013: Malik's Pakistani heritage and Muslim identity are used as ammunition for racist online attacks. Twitter users bombard him with racist slurs and terrorist jokes, and he temporarily deletes his Twitter account.
![November 2013: The band's third album, Midnight Memories, goes to No.1 in the UK and US - making them the first band in history to have their first three albums all debut at No.1 in the Billboard 200.]()
November 2013: The band's third album, Midnight Memories, goes to No.1 in the UK and US - making them the first band in history to have their first three albums all debut at No.1 in the Billboard 200.
![December 2013: Malik becomes engaged to Little Mix's Perrie Edwards.]()
December 2013: Malik becomes engaged to Little Mix's Perrie Edwards.
![July 2014: Amidst Israel's deadly assault on the Gaza Strip, Malik tweets,]()
July 2014: Amidst Israel's deadly assault on the Gaza Strip, Malik tweets, "#FreePalestine" to his 13 million followers. He is immediately met with death threats, but refuses to delete the tweet. It is retweeted more than 340,000 times.
![March 2015: Malik announces that he's quitting the band six days after signing off their tour due to stress, citing his desire to live like a]()
March 2015: Malik announces that he's quitting the band six days after signing off their tour due to stress, citing his desire to live like a "normal 22-year-old who is able to relax and have some private time out of the spotlight."
![March 2015: Malik is seen at a London recording studio with producer Naughty Boy, leading to speculation that the pair are working together.]()
March 2015: Malik is seen at a London recording studio with producer Naughty Boy, leading to speculation that the pair are working together.
![May 2015: Despite describing his former bandmates as]()
May 2015: Despite describing his former bandmates as "friends for life" when he quit the band, Malik gets into a Twitter argument with Louis Tomlinson over the latter's snide comments about Mac filters. "Remember when you had a life," Malik tweets to Tomlinson, "and stopped making bitchy comments about mine?"
![July 2015: Malik's short-lived collaboration with Naughty Boy comes to a bitter end when Naughty Boy leaks the music they've been working on. Malik tweets:]()
July 2015: Malik's short-lived collaboration with Naughty Boy comes to a bitter end when Naughty Boy leaks the music they've been working on. Malik tweets: "You fat joke stop pretending we're friends no one knows you."
![July 2015: Malik announces that he's signed a deal with RCA Records, home of Sia, A$AP Rocky and Foo Fighters.]()
July 2015: Malik announces that he's signed a deal with RCA Records, home of Sia, A$AP Rocky and Foo Fighters.
![August 2015: Malik calls off engagement to Perrie Edwards.]()
August 2015: Malik calls off engagement to Perrie Edwards.
![November 2015: Malik renounces his former band's music in an interview with The Fader:]()
November 2015: Malik renounces his former band's music in an interview with The Fader: "If I would sing a hook or a verse slightly R&B, or slightly myself, it would always be recorded 50 times until there was a straight version that was pop, generic as fuck, so they could use that version."