The 22-year-old says that he may not have 'four friends for life.'
"Four friends for life" may have been an overstatement.
Zayn Malik gets candid about the state of his relationship with his former One Direction bandmates in the new issue of Billboard magazine, revealing that he's not even on speaking terms with certain members of the group.
WATCH: One Direction Opens Up About Zayn Malik's Exit
"The truth of it is," he said, "you can think one thing about a situation and the total opposite can happen. I had every intention of remaining friends with everybody, but I guess certain phone numbers have changed and I haven’t received calls from a lot of people. I’ve reached out to a few of them and not got a reply. Certain people have pride issues, but it’s stuff you overcome in time."
Malik famously left the boy band in March of last year, while the remaining members -- Harry Styles, Niall Horan, Louis Tomlinson and Liam Payne -- went on to tour and release a new album without him by the year's end.
"I am leaving because I want to be a normal 22-year-old who is able to relax and have some private time out of the spotlight," he said in a statement at the time of his departure. "I know I have four friends for life in Louis, Liam, Harry and Niall. I know they will continue to be the best band in the world."
Despite any bad blood among the boys, Malik insists that there's no rivalry when it comes to their music. Malik is expected to release his first solo effort later this year via RCA Records.
WATCH: One Direction Gets Candid About Zayn Malik's Departure
"There are no sides to pick," he told Billboard. "We're not going head-to-head."
ET caught up with 1D's Styles, Horan and Tomlinson in November during an exclusive sit-down in Belfast, Ireland, where the guys opened up about what Malik's departure meant to them.
"I think in any field of work when you lose someone on your team, obviously it's hard, but the positive take on the situation is we felt we definitely got closer as a group," Tomlinson explained. "We sat down and spoke about it -- this is something we all still want to do, so in the end we actually bonded together tighter, I think."
"Zayn did have different musical tastes, so that's fine," he added.
Elsewhere in Malik’s interview with Billboard, the singer – who, after breaking off his engagement to Little Mix's Perrie Edwards last year, has recently been linked to model Gigi Hadid -- got candid about what he’s looking for in a girlfriend.
"I need a challenge. Also, I like girls that are a bit chunky in certain areas -- the nice areas. I like a fuller woman," he said. "I enjoy an intellectual conversation as well, where someone can construct a sentence beyond what hair and makeup they’re wearing, and talk about something political or about the world. I like an opinion."
For her part, Hadid has drawn praise for calling out her body shamers in a powerful post on Instagram last year.
“I represent a body image that wasn't accepted in high-fashion before, and I'm also very lucky to be supported by the designers, stylists, and editors that I am," she wrote. "Yes, I have boobs, I have abs, I have a butt, I have thighs, but I'm not asking for special treatment. I'm fitting into the sample sizes."
For more on Hadid’s epic open letter, watch the video below.