Zayn Malik Isn't Sure He's Ever 'Truly Been in Love' Despite Past Long-term Relationship with Gigi Hadid

Zayn Malik isn't quite clear on the definition of love.

The former One Direction member, 31, who shares 3½-year-old daughter Khai with his ex-girlfriend Gigi Hadid, opened up about his past experiences with romance in a new interview on the Zach Sang Show, revealing he doesn't think he's ever actually been in love — despite having dated the model for over five years. Malik was also previously engaged to Little Mix's Perrie Edwards.

"I don’t know how you know what love is. That’s a really deep question. It’s hard, you know? I think love comes in many different forms. In love with somebody is a whole different, kind of complicated, you know? There’s so many different variables that go into it," said Malik, whose new album, Room Under the Stairs, will be released on May 17.

"You can never really pinpoint, I think, what is love. There’s ways you can show love. You can express it. That’s our human understanding of it, but what is love? It’s an intangible thing, right? We can’t hold it in our hands. It’s not something that exists," continued the "Pillowtalk" singer.

At times, Malik has thought he might've been in love before reevaluating the situation afterward. "Your perspective changes it, right? You look back on it with new eyes, and you’re like, ‘Well, maybe I wasn’t in love there.’ But that’s time," he explained. "So, is it love? Or is it life experience that we are going through? Who knows?"

The "I Don't Wanna Live Forever" musician then said, "When you ask me, ‘What is love?’ I think the reason that’s hard for me to answer that question is I don’t know if I’ve ever actually truly been in love."

One form of connection Malik feels confident in is the love he feels for Khai, "but that's different — I’m in love with her as my child," he said, noting that he feels unclear about falling "in love with somebody who is a complete separate entity. They’re not my family. I have no blood with them, like, ‘I’m in love with this person.’ I don’t know."

Malik and Hadid, 29, dated on and off from 2015 through 2021, and despite splitting up, they've continued to co-parent Khai. In an interview with NET-A-PORTER's digital title PORTER last year, she spoke about balancing work with motherhood.

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"I think when you are a parent, you have to be intentional because, now, I literally have half the time," she said of co-parenting. "I work when my daughter is with her dad, and that’s the time I have."

"I will literally fit in as many jobs as I can on those days. I’m sometimes a crazy person, but if it means a lot to me, then I do it," continued Hadid.