FORMER One Direction star Zayn Malik has thanked his fans for their support following his decision to quit the chart-topping band.

The singer, 22, returned to the public eye last week at the Annual Asian Awards, where he showed off a new shaved hairdo.

Malik has been quiet on Twitter ever since he declared his love for fiancee Perrie Edwards, after pictures emerged of him apparently close to another woman.

He flew home from the boyband’s world tour with “stress” before suddenly quitting the group., saying that he wants to be a “normal 22-year-old”.

Now Malik has tweeted: “Wanna say thanks to everyone that’s been there for me over the last few weeks, love you all.. you know who you are x”.

He added: “The x is a kiss by the way ha it’s not a mystery .. sorry to any confused ...”

At the Annual Asian Awards, which Malik attended with his mother, the star paid tribute to his former bandmates, calling them “four of the best guys that I ever met”.

“Some of the things that we did will stay with me for the rest of my life,” he said.