Following the sudden emergence of an unheard “solo track” online yesterday, ex-One Direction member Zayn Malik has suffered a decline in his social media following.

After British producer Naughty Boy tweeted a link to a song on SoundCloud called ‘I Won’t Mind’, featuring his music and Zayn on vocals, the former boyband member has seen over 50,000 of his fans unfollow him on Twitter since Tuesday.

Zayn Malik
Zayn Malik has lost 50,000 fans from his Twitter following

Although the MailOnline revealed less than twelve hours later that the track was not actually a Zayn Malik solo track but a discarded 1D song considered for inclusion on Four, the widespread belief among Directioners is that Naughty Boy somehow prised Zayn away from their beloved band.

The song has now been taken down from SoundCloud, doubtless in response to the barrage of angry responses aimed at Naughty Boy from upset Directioners and because of Zayn’s followers deserting him. 50,000 is a lot of people, but a drop in the ocean when you consider that the 22 year old still has 14.6 million fans.

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The source that revealed to the MailOnline that ‘I Won’t Mind’ wasn’t a new solo track also reckoned that Naughty Boy had leaked the track as the result of an ongoing Twitter feud with Zayn’s ex-bandmate Louis Tomlinson.

“They aren't furiously working on his solo material or anything, there aren't plans for anything and this wasn't recorded in the last few days,” the source reassured fans. “They are very good friends and Zayn is taking time out including visiting Naughty Boy at his studio and hanging out.”

It’s just another part of an ongoing saga since Zayn announced his split from the globally popular boyband last week. He cited stress as the reason for his departure, and that he wanted to feel like a “normal 22 year old” for a while.

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