Perrie Edwards has opened up about her "hellish" split from her ex fiancé, Zayn Malik.
The former Little Mix singer met Malik during her time on the X Factor in 2011, where she won the talent show alongside bandmates, Jesy Nelson, Jade Thirlwall, and Leigh Ann Pinnock as part pop group, Little Mix.
Edwards and Malik went public with their relationship in 2012, and were engaged for almost two years, before splitting up in 2015.
Former One Direction singer, Zayn Malik was engaged to Perrie Edwards until 2015.
Speaking with Jamie Laing on his Great Company podcast, Perrie Edwards spoke about how "tough" it was to get through their break up, and her "heartbreak" in the public eye, which she claimed led to "serious breakdowns".
She added that she felt "ridiculed" and was "crying constantly".
"When you go through heartbreak, it is hellish. You can't eat. You can’t sleep. You feel horrendous", Edwards stated. "You feel abandoned and you don’t feel good enough, and you feel like you’ve been left for something better, or whatever it is".
She continued: "What makes it even worse is I feel like the world was then looking at me, laughing at me".
"I had like serious breakdowns, because it wasn’t just the heartbreak I was dealing with. I was dealing with everybody looking at me and I felt ridiculed".
Perrie Edwards went on to say that she "couldn't cope", but felt that she "had to be there" and "power through" and be there for her bandmates.
She said: "I also was getting followed every two seconds and asked about it 24/7, and it was the headlines, it was everywhere, and it was a lot".
When asked by Laing if Zayn Malik had found the break up of their relationship as difficult to navigate, Edwards replied: "There was a bit of an overlap".
"I think when you’re moving on with somebody else you always get on better. When you’re the one left behind, that’s when it’s hard".
"It’s like, 'oh sh**, they’ve left me for someone more beautiful than me, someone better than me’. Whatever it is, that’s how it felt at the time", she added. "Then you have a song that they’ve written about you, but then someone else is in the (music) video – it was one thing after the other.
"I just remember that, and it was the nail in the coffin".
Since then, Perrie Edwards found love again, having got engaged to footballer, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain. The couple have two children together, son Axel, and daughter, Alanis Valentine.
On this relationship, Edwards said that she feels this is an example of "healthy love", and said: "I just love how calm he is and how understanding he is and how caring he is and thoughtful he is".
She added: "I just feel safe with Alex. I feel just content and happy and it’s not effort".
As for Zayn Malik, who also burst onto the scene in One Direction, embarked on a relationship with model, Gigi Hadid, with the latter starring in his debut in the music video for his debut single, Pillowtalk in 2016.
The couple ended their relationship in 2021, and share a daughter named Khai.
