{"id":492516,"date":"2026-06-10T13:36:09","date_gmt":"2026-06-10T13:36:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/492516\/"},"modified":"2026-06-10T13:36:09","modified_gmt":"2026-06-10T13:36:09","slug":"perrie-edwards-discusses-hellish-split-from-zayn-malik","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/492516\/","title":{"rendered":"Perrie Edwards discusses &#8216;hellish&#8217; split from Zayn Malik"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Former Little Mix star Perrie Edwards has told of her &#8220;hellish&#8221; split from ex-fianc\u00e9 Zayn Malik, and claimed &#8220;there was a bit of an overlap&#8221; with his next relationship.<\/p>\n<p>The singer, 32, also reflected on how &#8220;tough&#8221; it was to navigate their break-up and her &#8220;heartbreak&#8221; in the public eye, saying she struggled with &#8220;serious breakdowns&#8221;.<\/p>\n<p>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<p>The pair announced their relationship in 2012 and were engaged for almost two years, but they split in 2015.<\/p>\n<p>Watch: Perrie Edwards chats to Jamie Lang <\/p>\n<p class=\"youtube-container tpe\" data-embed=\"youtube\" data-id=\"7sVK3zDKQxQ\">\n<p>Speaking to Jamie Laing on his Great Company podcast, Edwards opened up about how difficult she found the break-up, and said she felt &#8220;ridiculed&#8221; and was &#8220;crying constantly&#8221;.<\/p>\n<p>She said: &#8220;When you go through heartbreak, it is hellish. You can&#8217;t eat. You can\u2019t sleep. You feel horrendous.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;You 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<p>&#8220;What makes it even worse is I feel like the world was then looking at me, laughing at me.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;I 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.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"LEEDS, ENGLAND - NOVEMBER 23: (EXCLUSIVE COVERAGE) Zayn performs at O2 Academy Leeds on November 23, 2024 in Leeds, England. (Photo by Andrew Benge\/Getty Images for ABA)\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/00247f32-614.jpg\"\/><br \/>\nMalik and Edwards announced their relationship in 2012 and were engaged for almost two years, but they split in 2015<\/p>\n<p>The Shout Out to My Ex singer went on to say she &#8220;couldn\u2019t cope&#8221; but felt she &#8220;had to be there&#8221; and &#8220;power through&#8221; for the sake of her bandmates.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;I 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,&#8221; she added.<\/p>\n<p>Laing asked her whether Malik found the break-up as difficult, and Edwards responded: &#8220;There was a bit of an overlap.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;I 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<p>&#8220;It\u2019s like, &#8216;oh sh**, 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<p>&#8220;Then 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<p>&#8220;I just remember that, and it was the nail in the coffin.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"LONDON, ENGLAND - NOVEMBER 16: (UK TABLOID NEWSPAPERS OUT) attends the UK premiere of The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn Part 1 at Westfield Stratford City on November 16, 2011 in London, United Kingdom. (Photo by Dave Hogan\/Getty Images)\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/00247f35-614.jpg\"\/><br \/>\nX-Factor judge Tulisa Contostavlos and Perrie Edwards, Leigh-Anne Pinnock, Jade Thirwall and Jesy Nelson from X Factor group Little Mix in 2011<\/p>\n<p>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<p>The pair split in 2021, but have a daughter together named Khai.<\/p>\n<p>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<p>Reflecting on her current relationship, she told Laing she thinks it is an example of &#8220;healthy love&#8221;, and said: &#8220;I just love how calm he is and how understanding he is and how caring he is and thoughtful he is.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;I just feel safe with Alex. I feel just content and happy and it\u2019s not effort.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Source: Press Association<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Former Little Mix star Perrie Edwards has told of her &#8220;hellish&#8221; split from ex-fianc\u00e9 Zayn Malik, and claimed&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":492517,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[28],"tags":[93,61,60,278],"class_list":["post-492516","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\/492516","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=492516"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/492516\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/492517"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=492516"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=492516"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=492516"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}