Zayn Malik is opening up about fatherhood, fame, and his daughter’s surprising career dreams.
During a recent appearance on the Call Her Daddy podcast, the former One Direction member revealed that his four-year-old daughter Khai wants to become a K-pop star. Khai, whom he shares with model Gigi Hadid, is already a big fan of the genre.
Zayn Malik on Khai’s Love for K-pop
“She definitely wants to be a K-pop star,” Malik told host Alex Cooper. “She’s big into K-pop.”
However, the 33-year-old British singer said he is not in favor of her becoming a K-pop star. He shared, “I would like to keep her away from it, you know, but at the end of the day, if she is happy, I will support her.”
He knows exactly what he is talking about when it comes to the downsides of fame. He joined One Direction at 17 on The X Factor and spent years in a boy band during peak 1D mania. He has been through the touring, the scrutiny, the tabloids, and the racism he recently rapped about facing as an Asian member of a white-dominated group.
Zayn added, “Me, personally, I would like to keep her away from some of the headaches this job entails.”
The comment explains a moment he shared last year. In July, Malik posted a rare photo on Instagram Stories showing him and Khai at a BLACKPINK concert in New York. Both had their hands raised toward the stage. He captioned it, “@blackpinkofficial thank you 🙂 Me & Khai loved it.”
Previously, Gigi Hadid also shared that Khai was excited to see TWICE perform at the Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show 2026.
Zayn Malik also revealed that Khai’s love for BLACKPINK played a role in his collaboration with member Jisoo. The two worked together on the track “EYES CLOSED” after Jisoo reached out to him directly. He agreed immediately, joking that he wanted his daughter to think “I’m cool again.”
On Gigi Hadid and Love
Elsewhere in the interview, Zayn revealed another parenting decision that landed him in hot water with Gigi Hadid. When Khai lost her first tooth, he gave her 500 quid (nearly $700) from the Tooth Fairy. “And her mom gave me s–t about it,” he said, laughing.
He also took the opportunity to clarify something that’s followed him for years. Back in 2023, Zayn made headlines for saying he’d never been in love. People assumed that included Hadid.
“I will always love G, ’cause she’s the reason my child is on this earth, and I have the utmost respect for her,” he said on the Call Her Daddy podcast. “I’ll always love her, but I don’t know if I was ever in love with her,” the Dusk Till Dawn singer said.
He added that if he had been truly in love, “I would’ve been a better version of myself”.
On the work front, Zayn Malik has a fifth solo album, Konnakol, due in April. The lead single “Die for Me” is already out, and he’s got an arena tour lined up across the U.K., North America, and South America starting in May.
