One Direction Bandmates Post Emotional Messages Following Zayn Malik Departure

— -- One Direction bandmates Harry Styles and Liam Payne posted emotional messages to Twitter hours after Zayn Malik announced he would be leaving the band.

"My life with One Direction has been more than I could ever have imagined," Malik, 22, said in a statement posted to the group's official Facebook page on Wednesday. "But, after five years, I feel like it is now the right time for me to leave the band."

Fans quickly responded on social media with heartbroken messages. Numerous hashtags -- like #ByeZayn -- were quickly trending.

Harry Styles and Liam Payne posted on their personal Twitter accounts just hours after the Malik's departure -- but did not refer to the departure directly.

"All the love always. H," said Harry Styles, 21.

"So glad to be in bed after a long and strange 24 hours," bandmate Liam Payne said.

A few hours after his other bandmates, Louis Tomlison tweeted about One Direction's future.

"Been a crazy couple of days but know that we are going to work harder than ever to deliver the best album we've ever made for you guys," he tweeted.

As part of the statement posted to the group's official Facebook page, the band said, "We're really sad to see Zayn go, but we totally respect his decision and send him all our love for the future. The past five years have been beyond amazing, we've gone through so much together, so we will always be friends. The four of us will now continue. We're looking forward to recording the new album and seeing all the fans on the next stage of the world tour."

Malik said he was leaving the band because he wants to be "a normal 22-year-old who is able to relax and have some private time out of the spotlight."