One Direction deny Zayn Malik substance abuse rumours while promoting their new album Four in US

Liam Payne denied the rumours and confirmed that Zayn Malik's absence was due to a stomach bug

Popping in: Harry Styles, Liam Payne, Louis Tomlinson and Niall Horan chat to NBC's Today Show about their new album (Picture: Gustavo Caballero/Getty Images)

Emma Powell18 November 2014

One Direction were forced to deny rumours that Zayn Malik is suffering from substance abuse after he was unable to make an appearance with his fellow band members on NBC’s The Today Show in Orlando.

The boys - who were on the show to debut new album Four - were asked by host Matt Lauer: “There’s obviously a lot of concern. A lot of fans have been tweeting overnight. Is it something more serious? There have been rumours of substance abuse. What’s going on?”

One Direction NBC Today Show Orlando

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Liam Payne replied: “No, he’s just got a stomach bug. He’s okay. He’s just at home. He just needs to rest.”

Fans took to Twitter to vent their fury at the comment with the hashtag #GetWellSoonZayn soon trending on the social media site.

Liam, Niall Horan, Harry Styles and Louis Tomlinson arrived in style by boat to 15,000 fans or ‘directioners’ desperate to catch a glimpse as they made their way on to the Universal CityWalk to perform a string of hits.

Once better, Zayn will join the boys as they continue their promotional duties in the US.

Four was released on Monday and looks set for chart success after new single Steal My Girl went straight to number one in the US charts and number three in the UK.

Clearly proud of the reaction so far Niall tweeted: "It's amazing to see something that we've worked really hard on and something we are really proud of , get a good reaction! #happy #four."