Zayn Malik is out of One Direction and is feeling pretty good about it.

Just six hours after he announced his departure from the group the singer gave an interview to The Sun saying that even though this week has been "a bit mad," he's never felt more "in control."

“I feel like I’m doing what’s right--– right by myself and right by the boys, so I feel good," he said.

So why, after five years and an enormous amount of success, would he want to give it all up and be a "normal 22-year-old"? Simple, he just wasn't happy.

"I did try to do something that I wasn't happy doing for a while, for the sake of maybe other people's happiness—and that was mainly the fans," he explained. "And I only ever tried to do it for the fans, and it was only ever for them. And, basically, I'm only upset I feel like I may have let them down in some sort of way. That's the main thing that I don't want to happen. It's not that I've turned my back on them or anything, it's just that I just can't do that anymore because it's not real to me."

But what is real is that there is no animosity between him and the other members, who are forging ahead and recording their fifth album. In fact, they've been "really supportive" of his decision.

"They’ve been cool about it. And they understand that, you know, it’s not real to me anymore," Zayn said. "They still want to do it for a while so they're going to carry on doing what they want to do and I think they are going to do OK for a while.”

Zayn, who said he doesn't know if he will ever return, did put those rumors to rest that he and fiancée Perrie Edwards have split after cheating accusations, telling The Sun that she's a "good girl" and also supports his decision.

So what's next for Zayn? Well, it seems like when he said he wanted to take some time out of the "spotlight" he didn't mean for all that long, saying that he is "going to write, relax and chill."

The singer was spotted heading to a London studio on Thursday and has been working on new music with producer Naughty Boy.

“I can’t deny the fact that we have made music together,” Naughty Boy, a.k.a. Shahid Khan, recently said. “Zayn is going to feature on my next album.”