Simon Cowell predicts One Direction will make their best record to date this year.
The British boyband is still getting over the loss of its founding member Zayn Malik, who quit last month after being signed off their tour with stress. Harry Styles, Niall Horan, Liam Payne and Louis Tomlinson are carrying on as a four-piece, and Simon - who formed the group on the UK X Factor - insists they are as strong as ever.
"I have a feeling they are gonna deliver this year the best record they've ever made. I've heard some of the early stuff. So I'm feeling good," he told talk show host James Corden.
It wasn't all so positive though, with Simon admitting he was devastated when he heard Zayn was leaving. The star departed because he wanted to be a normal 22-year-old and not constantly in the limelight, with the decision some time in the making.
"About to jump off a cliff," he said, when asked where he was when he heard the news. "I was in Miami. I kind of new this was coming if I'm honest with you, we'd had a few conversations. He wasn't happy and I was trying to say to him, 'Look, I think you should stay around a bit longer.' And then something in him just said: 'No, I've had enough.' Once the decision was made, I dealt with it. Then obviously made sure the guys were OK, because they were shocked as well."
The music mogul had in-depth talks with Zayn before the final decision was made. He was asked if he tried to persuade the star to give One Direction another go and explained that he wanted to be fair to Zayn and what he was going through.
"Once someone's made their mind up, they're gonna go. But also, at the same time, I don't wanna push him too much because he's 22 and I could see he's a bit stressed and he needed some time off," he explained. "I had to respect his decision and then, for the boys, it was interesting because they were in the middle of these live shows at the time and I watched the show back and they were incredible. To work everything out so quickly."
A day after he left the group, Zayn caused surprise by hitting the studio with producer Naughty Boy. He's since said he had to walk away from the band because it didn't feel real to him anymore.
