{"id":492470,"date":"2026-06-10T13:00:12","date_gmt":"2026-06-10T13:00:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/492470\/"},"modified":"2026-06-10T13:00:12","modified_gmt":"2026-06-10T13:00:12","slug":"former-little-mix-star-perrie-edwards-discusses-hellish-split-from-zayn-malik","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/492470\/","title":{"rendered":"Former Little Mix star Perrie Edwards discusses \u2018hellish\u2019 split from Zayn Malik"},"content":{"rendered":"

Former Little Mix star Perrie Edwards has told of her \u201chellish\u201d split from ex-fiance Zayn Malik, and claimed \u201cthere was a bit of an overlap\u201d with his next relationship.<\/p>\n

The singer, 32, also reflected on how \u201ctough\u201d it was to navigate their break-up and her \u201cheartbreak\u201d in the public eye, saying she struggled with \u201cserious breakdowns\u201d.<\/p>\n

Edwards met Malik during her time on The X Factor in 2011, where she won the talent show alongside bandmates Jade Thirlwall, Jesy Nelson and Leigh-Anne Pinnock in pop group Little Mix.<\/p>\n

The pair announced their relationship in 2012 and were engaged for almost two years, but they split in 2015.<\/p>\n

Speaking to Jamie Laing on his Great Company podcast, Edwards opened up about how difficult she found the break-up, and said she felt \u201cridiculed\u201d and was \u201ccrying constantly\u201d.<\/p>\n

She said: \u201cWhen you go through heartbreak, it is hellish. You can\u2019t eat. You can\u2019t sleep. You feel horrendous.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou feel abandoned and you don\u2019t feel good enough, and you feel like you\u2019ve been left for something better, or whatever it is.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat makes it even worse is I feel like the world was then looking at me, laughing at me.<\/p>\n

\u201cI had like serious breakdowns, because it wasn\u2019t just the heartbreak I was dealing with. I was dealing with everybody looking at me and I felt ridiculed.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"LittleLittle Mix pictured in 2012, soon after winning X Factor (Martin Rickett\/PA)<\/p>\n

The Shout Out To My Ex singer went on to say she \u201ccouldn\u2019t cope\u201d but felt she \u201chad to be there\u201d and \u201cpower through\u201d for the sake of her bandmates.<\/p>\n

\u201cI also was getting followed every two seconds and asked about it 24\/7, and it was the headlines, it was everywhere, and it was a lot,\u201d she added.<\/p>\n

Laing asked her whether Malik found the break-up as difficult, and Edwards responded: \u201cThere was a bit of an overlap.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think when you\u2019re moving on with somebody else you always get on better. When you\u2019re the one left behind, that\u2019s when it\u2019s hard.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s like, \u2018oh shit, they\u2019ve left me for someone more beautiful than me, someone better than me\u2019. Whatever it is, that\u2019s how it felt at the time.<\/p>\n

\"ZaynEdwards was previously engaged to Zayn Malik, pictured in 2011, of One Direction. Photo: Ian West\/PA.<\/p>\n

\u201cThen you have a song that they\u2019ve written about you, but then someone else is in the (music) video \u2013 it was one thing after the other.<\/p>\n

\u201cI just remember that, and it was the nail in the coffin.\u201d<\/p>\n

Malik, who rose to fame in One Direction, started dating model Gigi Hadid in 2015 and she starred in the music video for his debut solo single Pillowtalk a year later.<\/p>\n

The pair split in 2021, but have a daughter together named Khai.<\/p>\n

Edwards is currently engaged to footballer Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain and the couple have two children together \u2013 son Axel and daughter Alanis Valentine.<\/p>\n

Reflecting on her current relationship, she told Laing she thinks it is an example of \u201chealthy love\u201d, and said: \u201cI just love how calm he is and how understanding he is and how caring he is and thoughtful he is.<\/p>\n

\u201cI just feel safe with Alex. I feel just content and happy and it\u2019s not effort.\u201d<\/p>\n

Malik has been contacted for comment.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Former Little Mix star Perrie Edwards has told of her \u201chellish\u201d split from ex-fiance Zayn Malik, and claimed…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":492471,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[28],"tags":[93,61,60,278],"class_list":["post-492470","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-music","tag-entertainment","tag-ie","tag-ireland","tag-music"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/492470","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=492470"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/492470\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/492471"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=492470"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=492470"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=492470"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}