Perrie Edwards reveals she escaped 'toxic' relationship with Zayn Malik that left her thinking she 'didn't want to meet anybody' before meeting her 'level-headed' fiancé Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain
The Little Mix star, 32, who is now engaged to footballer Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, shared the insight into her 'first love' in a hard-hitting interview with Paul C Brunson on his We Need To Talk podcast.
Reflecting on her dating history, Perrie, who did not name her ex-partner, admitted that behaviour in her 'first relationship' left her fearing the 'pain' of meeting someone new, as she was led to believe their actions were 'normal.'
The singer previously got engaged to One Direction star Zayn Malik in 2013, but they split two years later.
She said: 'I think definitely at the time I thought everything we experienced in our relationship was normal.
'Because it was my first relationship, first love. I was like, 'Oh, this is how it's supposed to feel. It's supposed to feel a little bit toxic. In some ways, this is probably normal, right?'
'And then when I became single, I was almost thinking, like, I never, ever want to go through that again. I didn't even want to meet anybody. I was like, that's me done. I don't think I could bear that pain.'
'But now, reflecting back, I'm thinking, oh, that probably wasn't good. And I've noticed it a lot.
'Like in the start of the relationship, I would handle things differently with Alex, and he'd come at it with such a level head that it would throw me.'
Perrie went onto gush about Alex's 'laid-back nature,' after the couple's engagement in 2022.
She said: 'Like, little things might happen, and I'd think, ''Oh, now he's going to kick off, he's not going to like this.'' And I'd be like, ''Oh, this happened.'' And he'd be like, ''Alright,'' and it would throw me.
'He's very mature. He's very laid back. He's very levelheaded. He's not the type to get mad or get angry or get funny about things.'
Zayn previously reflected on his split from Perrie in an interview back in May, telling Nylon: 'From 17 to 21, I was in a relationship. I was engaged and [planned to get] married and I didn't know anything about anything at that point. I thought I did, because I was 21. I was legally allowed to do everything, but I didn't know s**t.'
Perrie recently recalled the moment she told Alex that she loved him for the first time early in their romance.
Appearing on the Capital Evening show with Jimmy Hill, she revealed how she stumbled over the romantic admission.
She said: 'In my real life I can never say exactly what I mean... but I feel like in my music it's different. I remember the first time I told Alex I loved him, I was on a night out with the [Little Mix] girls and they were gearing me up - and for some reason I had a pan, right?
'I had a frying pan because Alex told me he liked pancakes so I went out of my way to buy a pan, but we had promo.
'So I'm on a night out, with a frickin' frying pan thinking, 'I'm gonna make his dreams come true, I'm gonna make him pancakes in the morning.'
The singer went on: 'I remember saying to the girls, 'I think I love him... but I think he loves me too' and the girls were like, 'Then just tell him'. They geared me up within an inch of life and I was raring to go.'
But when it came to the big moment, the singer admitted that she was 'speechless'.
She continued: 'I couldn't find the words, I couldn't articulate myself, I was like panicking... my heartbeat was in my head. And I just went, 'I think I'm falling in love with you', so aggressively.'
After managing to get her words out, she revealed that Alex said he was in love with her too.
Listen to the full interview on Paul Brunson's We Need To Talk, available wherever you get your podcasts.
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