Liam Payne has admitted that Zayn Malik left One Direction to spend more time with his fiancée, Perrie Edwards.

During an interview on Capital FM this morning (May 20), the singer claimed that Zayn DID quit 1D to save his relationship with the Little Mix star, adding the group were “cool” with his decision.

Payne said: “Sometimes you have to move on because you're not enjoying what you're doing as much as you used to.

"He wanted to spend time with his family and his missus. That's cool with us.”

He continued: “Yeah, of course he had to do what he had to do. We are still great mates. I know it's difficult for people to see.

"It's like any other job sometimes - you just have to move on. We are going to just keep going, keep flying the flag."

It seems Perrie might just be the modern day Yoko Ono after all…