Zayn Malik has CHANGED HIS TWITTER HANDLE; One Direction fans do NOT react well

Zayn Malik has reached into the chests of several million teenagers, ripped out their young , fresh hearts and stomped all over them today by changing his Twitter handle and removing any association with One Direction. FOR GOOD.

We knew it was coming. We thought we'd have more time to prepare, but… he's done it now, and there's nothing anyone can do to convince him otherwise.

WHY GOD WHYYYYY.

Zayn's handle has been @ZaynMalik1D for as long as we can remember – probably since the dawn of Twitter itself, or since blue ticks became a thing at least.

But now he's changed it to plain old @ZaynMalik, deleted the jazzy "just close your eyes and enjoy the rollercoaster that is life :) x" bio blurb and removed the link to 1D's official website. WAAAH.

If an alien looked at his profile now, it might just believe that Zayn is nothing more than a normal 22-year-old man. WHICH IS EXACTLY WHAT HE WANTED.

Obviously, given this monumental life-shattering news, the fandom has reacted… not well. The hashtag #YouWillAlwaysBeZaynMalik1D has been trending worldwide this morning and we're getting a bit concerned about some of them.

Stay strong, guys.

Zayn Malik with kittens, puppies and babies