Perrie Edwards opened up about navigating her first relationship in the public eye during an appearance on the We Need to Talk podcast.
The Little Mix member discussed her engagement to Zayn Malik from 2013 to 2015. Both artists met through X Factor UK.
Edwards was 32 when she appeared on the August 19 episode. She reflected on how young she was when the relationship began following Little Mix’s 2011 X Factor UK win.
“It was pretty easy at first it seemed, and then I think it got more difficult, obviously, as it went on,” Edwards said.
The singer explained that Malik was her first serious relationship. While she’d “had little boyfriends at school and whatnot,” this was different.
“At the time I thought everything we experienced in our relationship was normal because it was my first relationship, first love. I was like, ‘Oh, this is how it’s supposed to feel. It’s supposed to feel a little bit toxic in some ways. This is probably normal, right?'”
Edwards said the experience shaped how she approached dating afterward. She didn’t want to meet anyone new after becoming single.
Bandmates Provided Support
Her Little Mix bandmates helped her through the difficult period. Leigh-Anne Pinnock, Jade Thirlwall, and Jesy Nelson rallied around her during the breakup.
“There was times when the girls would just huddle around me. Or there was times Leigh-Anne was doing crazy dances in the street just to distract from me ’cause it was getting a lot. It was too much,” Edwards recalled.
The public nature of the split made everything harder.
Edwards described it as a “really difficult time” in 2015. She’d never dealt with heartbreak before, especially with public scrutiny.
“I’d never navigated heartbreak, let alone having everyone criticize it in the public eye. I think I felt embarrassed. I felt weird. I was really sad.”
She called the experience “mortifying” because of the constant attention.
“If it wasn’t for [Little Mix], I really would have struggled,” Edwards said about her bandmates’ protection.
New Relationship Challenges
Edwards began dating Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain in 2016. The soccer player’s calm approach initially confused her.
She brought relationship patterns from her previous experience into the new one.
“I had so many issues in our relationship at the beginning that I probably didn’t notice at the time,” Edwards explained.
Edwards said Oxlade-Chamberlain’s level-headed responses would “throw” her because she expected different reactions.
The couple welcomed their son Axel in 2021. Edwards announced their engagement in June 2022.
Previous Claims About Breakup
Edwards previously wrote in Little Mix’s 2016 book One World that Malik ended their engagement via text message.
Malik later disputed this claim in an interview with The Fader.
The “Pillowtalk” singer said he had too much respect for Edwards “than to end anything over text message.”
Both artists have moved on since their split. Malik, also 32, has focused on his solo career and has a daughter with model Gigi Hadid.
