Zayn Malik is a member of the British boy band One Direction. He auditioned for seventh season of The X Factor in 2010 as a solo artist and was almost eliminated because he refused to dance. When Zayn failed to qualify individually on the show, Simon Cowell added him to One Direction, which he formed with other X Factor contestants, Liam Payne, Niall Horan, Harry Styles and Louis Tomlinson.