Zayn Malik thanks fans for support over One Direction walkout

Zayn Malik has returned to social media after a month's silence to thank fans for their support following his departure from One Direction.

The British pop star quit the boyband during its world tour in March (15) in a bid to live a "normal" life, and he jetted off on holiday with his fiancee, Little Mix singer Perrie Edwards, to escape the limelight.

Malik returned to the public eye at the Asian Awards in London on Friday (17Apr15) and thanked his former bandmates as he accepted the Outstanding Contribution to Music prize, and he has now broken his silence on Twitter.com to thank fans for their support in his first tweet since he was forced to defend cheating rumours last month (Mar15).

He writes, "Wanna (want to) say thanks to everyone that's been there for me over the last few weeks, love you all... you know who you are x".

He then swiftly clarified the end of his tweet, adding, "The x is a kiss by the way ha it's not a mystery... sorry to any confused..."

Malik is reportedly working on solo material with British DJ Naughty Boy.