Zayn Malik claims he wasn't allowed to grow a beard when he was in One Direction

And says he wasn't allowed to dye his hair

(Getty)

It’s been almost exactly a year since Zayn Malik parted ways with One Direction, leaving the fandom heartbroken and “hundreds" of workers requesting compassionate leave.

Since then he’s been on a quest to find his own identity, releasing notably different music from the 1D genre, growing his beard and dying his hair blonde, green and pink - something he has now revealed he was actually banned from doing during his time in the band.

Malik, who has also been seen with facial hair pretty much constantly since leaving 1D, spoke to Complex about the “restrictions” placed upon him while a member of the world’s biggest boyband.

He claimed he wasn’t allowed to keep his beard so to not look much older than the other members: Louis Tomlinson, Harry Styles, Niall Horan and Liam Payne, but as he grew older he “rebelled” against it, hence why he was sporting facial hair from about 2014 onwards.

“Eventually when I got older, I rebelled against it, and decided to keep it anyway,” he said. “That was just because I looked older than the rest of them. That’s one of the things that is now quite cool. I get to keep my beard. I also wanted to dye my hair when I was in the band, but I wasn’t allowed to.”

Elsewhere in the interview, the 23-year-old said he reckons he’s a bit of a “sh*t celebrity”, told of his hopes to get an English degree after his album is released and said he is “learning to deal with” the high-level of interest surrounding his relationship with model Gigi Hadid.