Harry Styles Says One Direction 'Became Closer' After Zayn Left The Group

After joking about Zayn's departure from One Direction during his Saturday Night Live monologue last week, Harry Styles got candid about the group's initial reaction when their band member left in 2015 to pursue a solo career.

"It was hard… It was kind of like we were sad that someone had left, but also sad that he was not enjoying it so much that he had to leave," the "Watermelon Sugar" singer explained during a recent interview. "Because I think at the time too, the tour and everything was going so well and everyone had kind of got to this place where everyone was kind of living in a way where they, I think, felt pretty good. It felt like everyone was kind of enjoying it."

"I'd say a big part of it was us kind of being like, 'Wow.' You didn't realize he wasn't enjoying it that much," he added.

However, though the news was shocking for 1D, the 25-year-old believes Zayn's departure wasn't all bad. "We were about to start recording a new album and stuff and it was like, 'Are we recording this without him?'" he recalled. "But I'd say in the moment, I guess the four of us became closer because we were like, 'Okay, this is a hurdle that we weren't expecting.'"

The remaining four members ended up calling it quits a year after Zayn left. "The last year of it [2016] we all kind of knew we were going to stop at the end of that year," Styles admitted. "We'd sit down and have conversations [asking if] everyone [is] good [with the decision], everyone wants to keep going and that kind of thing. There was a part of me where I felt like all of the decisions I'd made as an adult — that affected my life and what I was doing with my life — had been made as a group. I think there was a part of me that felt like I wanted to make some decisions for myself... I felt like I needed to make some decisions that just affect me."

Styles has since launched his own successful solo career and is gearing up to release his sophomore album Fine Line and head out on tour next year.

Photo: Getty Images