Even though he's personally dealing with a lot of anxiety and internal issues right now, Zayn Malik never said he would bail on his fans altogether, yet one former pop star is advising him to quit the industry altogether - for the sake of his health and sanity. Brian McFadden - who many Irish fans remember from his Westlife days - is urging Malik to pull the plug on his career, as according to him, it's simply not worth it at the end of the day.

In a new interview with Britain's Sunday People (via the Mirror), McFadden, who has dealt with plenty of ups and downs in the celebrity spotlight as well, says he knows exactly what Malik is going through right now, because he dealt with similar problems of his own.

He said, "But it's only now, more than a decade later, that I can really understand what happened. We had it all - money, fame, beautiful women, amazing cars - but in the end it just wasn't making me happy."

McFadden, who was once married to British reality star Kerry Katona, added, "At the end I found I was taking myself away from everyone. One day I just jumped on a plane to Australia without telling the others because I couldn't stand any more. I just told the tour manager, who was shocked and insisted we had promotional stuff to do, but I just couldn't face it."

Malik recently canceled a London concert at the last minute because of his ongoing struggles with anxiety.

Tags: Zayn Malik