Zayn Malik revealed that he is done with public relationships for the time being in a recent podcast. He also said it was “freeing” to be single.
The singer-songwriter sat down with Alex Cooper on her Call Her Daddy podcast, which aired on February 11, 2026. During the show, the conversation turned to Malik’s dating life, where Cooper pointed out that the PILLOWTALK singer had been in serious relationships for a decade.
Cooper asked, “You’ve obviously been in a public relationship before. Would you be open to that again, or are we going full private?” Malik quickly replied, “No, yeah, I’m not looking for a public relationship again.”
The Let Me artist was quick to clarify, “No offense to anybody that I have been in public relationships with before. I’ve just learned from it that it don’t work for me. You know, I’m quite a private person. I don’t really strive for people’s approval or attention.”
Cooper continued, “For 10 really formative years of your life, from 17 to about 27, you were in serious relationships. This is kind of the longest time you’ve ever publicly been single.” She asked, “What was the scariest part of being alone for the first time?”
Malik explained that he doesn’t have any problem with some alone time. “I don’t find being alone scary,” he said. “I’m cool with myself. I like my own thoughts. I like to do things myself, and I like to be in my own company. I’m not co-dependent like that at all.”
The I Don’t Wanna Live Forever singer explained that his lack of co-dependency even extends to his parents. “Like, I love them, I respect them, they are always there if I need them, but I’m not co-dependent on them, y’know?” he said. “I don’t need to speak with them every single day and check things.”
Malik reiterated, “Again, no disrespect to all the past relationships I’ve been in cos people tend to take things out of context. No disrespect at all.” The singer said single life was “freeing,” adding that he’s the type of person who runs on his own clock.
Speaking about potential future relationships, Malik said he has learned from past mistakes. “Hopefully, if I meet somebody I want to be serious with, I’ll have spent enough time in this place to know that I want to be with that person and be committed to them,” he stated.
During the same podcast, the Like I Would artist addressed comments he made about never being in love despite dating and fathering a child with Gigi Hadid. Malik told Cooper there was a clear distinction between ‘love’ and ‘in love.‘ The pair were in and out of a relationship between 2015 and 2021.