Zayn Malik Details Decision to Raise His and Gigi Hadid's Daughter Out of the Spotlight

The story of Zayn Malik's life has changed drastically over the past few years.

In 2020, he became a dad when Gigi Hadid gave birth to their daughter, Khai. And in the months before she was born, he decided he wanted to raise the now-3-year-old in rural Pennsylvania, where for more than five years, he has owned a farm not far from the home of his ex's mother Yolanda Hadid.

"When I found out that my partner at the time was pregnant, I pretty quickly made up my mind that this would be a great place to raise a child because there's so much for her to do here," Zayn told L'Officiel magazine in comments posted March 27. "So, we do spend a lot of time outside."

This means Zayn and Khai, who lives half the time with her mom, can bond over a variety of fun outdoor activities. "We do the gardening," he said. "She likes to camp with me. We cook outside. We fish a little bit. And she's really into it, too, so it makes it fun. Hopefully, we can create some amazing memories here."

Zayn—who split with Gigi in 2021—is also teaching their daughter how to grow her own food. "I love gardening. I got into it when I moved out here, probably about seven years ago," he said. "And now I get to share that experience with her, because I've gotten a bit better at things. My crops are actually edible and usable."

And Khai has happily discovered this herself. "I'll just find her, like, munching on a piece of broccoli, which is a parent's worst nightmare, you know?" the 31-year-old joked. "Whatever way you can get veggies into your kids, right?"

Meanwhile, the One Direction alum continued making music—from a cabin studio on his farm. His new album, Room Under the Stairs, is set for release May 17. Khai, he says, is "starting to understand that Baba sings and Baba does music." And she may follow in his musical footsteps.

"Khai has a lot of natural ability herself already," Zayn noted. "I know, it sounds ridiculous because she's three, but her retention for language, especially when it's formatted in a musical sense to her, has been amazing."

"She'll remember every lyric of every song that she likes," he continued. "She remembers chord progressions and notes. She can do runs that have, like, three, four notes already. I look forward to seeing what she's going to be capable of doing as she gets older."

Look back at some of the cutest photos of Gigi and Zayn's daughter below: