Malik leaves One Direction Asia tour

One Direction singer Zayn Malik has dropped out of the popular band’s On the Road Again tour in Asia due to “stress,” his publicist said on Thursday (March 19), after pictures were posted of the engaged Malik partying with a tourist in Phuket, Thailand.

“Zayn has been signed off with stress and is flying back to the UK to recuperate. The band wish him well and will continue with their performances in Manila and Jakarta,” an emailed statement from London-based publicist Simon Jones said.

Malik, who is engaged to Perrie Edwards of Little Mix, is seen in photos posted on the Internet partying with a woman who has been identified as Lauren Rich.

The English-Irish One Direction came to prominence in the televised singing competition “The X Factor” in 2010 and has gone on to become one of the world’s top selling bands.

(Reuters)