One Direction is now short one One Directioner after Zayn Malik bailed on its tour, citing stress. Malik has flown back to the boy band's native UK to recuperate.
The group's publicist, Simon Jones, confirmed Thursday that "Zayn has been signed off with stress and is flying back" to get better, hopefully imminently.
It was not immediately clear what Malik is so stressed about, whether there are any additional health issues involved, or whether that's all utter BS.
He said the band will continue with upcoming performances in Manila, Philippines and Jakarta, Indonesia as part of the "On the Road Again" world tour.
Malik's departure comes a day after he slammed Twitter trolls talking about trouble between himself and girlfriend Perrie Edwards of the band Little Mix.
The tour exit also comes on the heels of an incident in November where Zayn Malik skipped a Today Show appearance, and Matt Lauer began probing why.
Lauer was booed by fans for wondering if substance abuse was to blame, but he may not have been reaching as much as 1D fans would like to believe.
Just this week, authorities in the Philippines said they would be imposing a $5,000 "weed bond" on Malik and his fellow band member Louis Tomlinson.
Not unlike an alleged criminal forfeiting their bail money if they don't show up for court, the 1D boys would lose the $5K sum if they used illegal drugs.
