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Zayn Malik has sensationally quit the One Direction tour due to stress.

The One Direction band member pulled out of a commercial recording in Hong Kong today so he could fly back to the UK to be with his family.

A spokesperson for the band said: "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."

While a source told The Sun: “Zayn finds it tougher than the rest of his band-mates dealing with fame. Having his every movement scrutinised causes great anxiety and the pictures which surfaced with the fan yesterday was the final straw.

(Image: Instagram)

“He did nothing wrong but the amount of criticism he received was simply too much. He needs to get away."

It means the singer will miss the band's next three tour dates in Asia, but reportedly hopes to return for their gig in South Africa on March 28.

This comes after the 22-year-old hit out at "jealous f***s" after pictures emerged of him with a mystery girl.

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Last night he wrote on Twitter: "I'm 22 years old... I love a girl named Perrie Edwards. And there's a lot of jealous f***s in this world I'm sorry for what it looks like x."

The rumour mill went into overdrive after pictures were shared of the engaged star holding hands with a blonde girl named Lauren outside Seduction nightclub in Phuket, while they were recently there for a gig.

They were later followed by another shot of the singer appearing to hug the mystery woman, with his arms wrapped around her shoulders.

The pictures soon sparked a flood of comments from the band's fans.

Some asked the boy band star who she was, while others said he's hardly doing anything wrong by holding hands with someone.

"They don't seriously expect us to believe that zayn is dumb enough to go out in public holding hands with a girl who is definitely not p-? [sic]," another One Direction fan shared on Twitter.

"He would never cheat. Don't call yourself a fan if u don't believe him," wrote someone else.

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