(Left to Right) Louis Tomlinson, Zayn Malik, Harry Styles, Liam Payne and Niall Horan of One Direction accept the award for Best Global Success during the 2014 Brit Awards at the O2 Arena in London on February 19, 2014.  Credit: Courtesy of TNS.

(Left to Right) Louis Tomlinson, Zayn Malik, Harry Styles, Liam Payne and Niall Horan of One Direction accept the award for Best Global Success during the 2014 Brit Awards at the O2 Arena in London on February 19, 2014.
Credit: Courtesy of TNS

Last week, Zayn Malik announced that he was taking a break from the “On the Road Again” tour because of stress. Unofficial sources even said that he’s trying to get out of the band for good. Many are pointing to the controversy over pictures that surfaced of him nestling up to a fan, when he has a fiancee, as the cause for his break, but it’s been a long time coming.

Fans know that even since the early days, Malik has had trouble adjusting to the spotlight, as the shyest member of the group.

Suspicions began to arise in November when he missed out on the huge album release event at Universal Studios because of a “tummy bug.” Maybe he was actually sick, or he refused to take part, or maybe management saw that Malik was on his way out and wanted to see how they would function as a four piece.

As far as the cheating controversy, holding hands or posing close to someone doesn’t mean much unless you are of the Duggar school of thought, so it should never have blown up as it has.

The controversy was just the cherry on top of the stress that Malik and the men have been dealing with. They’ve done four albums and four tours over the course of four years, and were thrust into the public eye from just being normal kids. Things aren’t looking very promising, considering the tour just started in February and lasts through October of this year.

Malik has had one foot out of the door for a while now, with his missing the album release and being generally apprehensive about fame , and unless legal obligations hold him back, he will likely take both of his feet back home to Bradford, England, for good.   

Amid all of the drama, the One Direction Twitter account and official website hasn’t said a word about Zayn and instead retweets the other members’ praises for the tour audiences. Maybe management, like the fans, thinks that if they don’t say anything, it won’t happen, but keeping the fans in the dark isn’t a good idea. The band’s management has an opportunity to clear things up and put an end to any rumors, but they aren’t taking it. This only furthers the rumors about Malik leaving the band forever.

But wait, there’s more. The second bombshell in 1D world came with the split of band member Louis Tomlinson and girlfriend of three years Eleanor Calder. One would think that the fans would be happy that he’s back on the market, but that’s not the case. The two of them had been dating since early on in the band’s fame, so we’ve become accustomed to her existence. Eleanor is just a normal girl, a college student, and presumably one of the only pieces of normalcy in Louis’ life. The break-up with Eleanor means that Louis is heartbroken, and that his broken little heart probably won’t be in it anymore.

Harry wants to be in the entertainment industry forever, Niall is still excited about everything, and Liam is too responsible to break any commitments.

That leaves Zayn and Louis, the same two who got into trouble for the video that surfaced of them smoking a joint last year, and who are both suffering heartache now with the turn of events in the last week or so.

The weakened blocks of One Direction could cause the whole empire to come crashing down.