Bradford One Direction star Zayn Malik quits US tour due to "stress" 

Perrie Edwards of Little Mix and Zayn Malik of One Direction

ONE Direction star Zayn Malik has quit the boyband\'s world tour after being "signed off with stress" and is coming home to the UK.

It comes after the Bradford singer was forced to defend himself online and declare his love for fiancee Perrie Edwards after pictures emerged of him apparently close to another woman.

A spokesman 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."

It comes the day after the heartthrob, whose fiancee is a member of girl band Little Mix, told his 14.1 million Twitter followers: "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"

A picture, which has been widely shared and published online, showed Zayn with his arm around the bare stomach of a woman in a cropped top.

They look like they are posing for the picture and are both smiling, appearing to be cheek-to-cheek.

A second photo, taken from behind, shows Zayn standing close to the woman and their hands and arms appear to be interlinked.

The pair appear to share a love of tattoos, with both of their arms adorned in designs and the woman also has a tattoo down her side.

Last year, Zayn revealed his mother has given him grief about his ever-growing tattoo collection.

He said he reassured her that the designs covering his arms and body will look acceptable when he reaches later life.

His extensive collection includes a large microphone, cartoonish lettering and a stylised picture of his fiancee.

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