Speaking on the Great Company with Jamie Laing podcast, the Little Mix singer reflected on the end of her four-year relationship with the One Direction star, which included a two-year engagement before they split in 2015.
“I need to be careful how I say this,” Edwards said during the interview, before adding, “there was a bit of a… I’m just going to say it… there was a bit of an overlap.”
Edwards met Malik in 2011 on The X Factor, and their relationship remained one of the most high-profile pop romances of the decade. She suggested that Malik moving on with Hadid, whom he dated on and off between 2015 and 2021, may have made the breakup easier for him, while intensifying the emotional impact on her.
“When you’re the one left behind—that’s what’s hard,” she said. “It’s like, ‘Oh, they’ve left me for someone more beautiful than me.’ That’s how it felt at the time.”
Perrie confirms there was an overlap in Zayn being with her and him starting his relationship with Gigi.
“I think when you’re moving on with somebody else, you’re always getting on better. When you’re the one left behind, that’s when it’s hard… [It was] hellish.” pic.twitter.com/urUSflyOXt
— Daily Perrie. (@dailypedwards) June 10, 2026
She also pointed to Hadid’s appearance in Malik’s 2016 debut solo music video PILLOWTALK, describing it as a particularly painful moment during the aftermath of their split.
Edwards, who is now engaged to footballer Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain and shares two children with him, said her family struggled to support her through the breakup, calling the experience “hellish.”
Malik has previously described his early relationships as part of a period in which he was still figuring out adulthood, later admitting he lacked emotional maturity at the time.