39 things we learned about Zayn in his Call Her Daddy interview

In what Zayn mentioned was his first interview in six years, the singer-songwriter joined host Alex Cooper for an exclusive sit-down interview for the Call Her Daddy podcast. It was recorded and filmed in Alex’s childhood home in Pennsylvania — convenient for Zayn, who also now calls Pennsylvania home.

It’s barely mid-morning and I’ve already listened to the interview twice. So here are 39 of the main takeaways:

1. He gets late-night meatball subs from Wawa.
2. He wakes up around noon on the days he doesn’t have his daughter.
3. His main passion outside of music is art.
4. He likes to cook meat and has a smoker at his house.
5. He has three cats, three dogs, three turtles, and six chickens.
6. One chicken died in his arms after he took it to the vet.
7. His pink sphynx cat is named Dobby after the Harry Potter character.
8. He has a dog named Fumper — a twist on Thumper from Bambi.
9. He’s bought tampons for his sisters.
10. He describes himself as a cheeky, mischievous kid.
11. He wasn’t the cool kid in school but he wasn’t bullied either.
12. He joined choir because he wanted to hang around female triplets.
13. He cringes whenever he sees his X Factor audition video.
14. He met Harry Styles on his X Factor audition day in Manchester; they were seated next to each other.
15. He looks back on his time in One Direction as “repetitive fun” that was great but ran its course.
16. He still remembers the time fans popped out of garbage cans to grab him.
17. He was stereotyped as the mysterious one in the band, but he just prefers to chill and relax in the back.
18. There were a lot of politics going on behind the scenes of the band when Zayn left.
19. He wanted to leave One Direction first so he could be the first to release solo music.
20. The first thing he did when he left the band was call his mom and ask if she had a place for him to sleep.
21. He took time off from press and media because he felt overexposed in the band and wanted to find his own identity.
22. He wants his solo music to show people that he has more depth.
23. The three words he’d use to describe himself are chill, funny, and loving.
24. His favorite thing about himself is that he’s witty and smart.
25. His least favorite thing about himself is that he’s sensitive at times and can take things the wrong way.
26. His new album will have some sad songs.
27. The biggest misunderstanding about him is that he’s so serious.
28. He wants to achieve and overcome things so his daughter sees him as a good example.
29. He enjoyed the feeling of anticipation and adrenaline of performing on stage as a kid.
30. Not being able to do “normal things” gave him anxiety in One Direction.
31. He tells dad jokes.
32. His daughter shows a lot of musical abilities already and they sing Disney songs together.
33. His daughter is like him in that she’s funny, chill, and loves reading.
34. He believes the most valuable thing he has in life is time.
35. “Love Like This” is a summery song.
36. He feels like he has something to give and is ready to get back on stage.
37. He’s super thankful for his supportive fanbase.
38. There are songs inspired by his daughter on the new album.
39. Now that he’s had a break, people are going to be seeing him a lot more.

Zayn’s newest single “Love Like This” drops July 21.