It is undeniable that Zayn Malik has Middle Eastern roots. In fact, his fans have long pointed out how much he looks like an Arabian Prince – so much so that Disney signed him on to sing A Whole New World for the live action movie Aladdin.
The problem is, many are still not sure what ethnic heritage Zayn has. Is he Pakistani or Indian? Or could he possibly be Egyptian?
All these can be answered by looking at his ancestral background. The ethnicities of his ancestors can help us find out whether or not he’s Pakistani or Indian.
Are you excited to find out, zquad? If you are, keep reading!
Zayn Malik Ancestral Background
As mentioned earlier, the only way to find out Zayn’s ethnicity is by looking at his ethnic heritage. Based on reports, Zayn Malik is:
- Pakistani (50%)
- Irish (25%)
- English (25%)
- Welsh
In other words, Zayn Malik is of Pakistani and English-Irish descent. He acquired his Pakistani heritage from his father, Yaser Malik, who is a native Pakistani.
He moved to the UK some time later in his life and met Zayn’s mom, Tricia Brannan, who is a Christian woman and has English-Irish roots. She later converted to Islam upon marriage.
As for Zayn’s Welsh heritage, it came from his distant relative on his mother’s side of the family. If it was up to us, we’d say that’s obsolete by now but we don’t want to crush the spirits of Welsh Zquads, right?
Unfortunately for his Indian fans, Zayn doesn’t seem to have any Indian roots in his ethnic heritage. But don’t be heartbroken just yet – the popstar seems to share the same interests as his Middle Eastern brothers and sisters!
Zayn Loves Bollywood – And More!
Zayn is not one to neglect his Desi roots. In fact, he’s embraced it! He knows how to speak Urdu, read in Arabic, and has even sung in Hindi for a Bollywood movie. In an interview with GQ Spain and India, Zayn professed his love for Bollywood:
“I watch a lot of Bollywood movies and I have many favorites. I love all the classics, I started showing them to my girl now too, and she watches them with me.”
On top of that, he also revealed that Bollywood influenced his style of music:
“I’d say that my music is definitely influenced by a lot of Bollywood-esque styles. I try to incorporate that in there with, obviously, the Western style of music that I do too.”
And good news to all Indian Zquads out there: Zayn knows how to cook Indian food. In an Instagram story, his then-girlfriend and supermodel Gigi Hadid shared a picture of their delicious Indian meal which, apparently, was prepared by Zayn himself.
These interests were all developed as early as childhood, according to Zayn, thanks to his father who introduced Bollywood to him. Much of his identity can be attributed to the influence Zayn’s father had on him.
Indeed, it is heartwarming to see Zayn fully embracing his ethnic roots. He’s could be Bollywood’s ticket to the mainstream given his influence to the industry.
Anyway, we’d love to see Zayn interact more with his Desi side. His Urdu songs were super cool, and we can’t wait to hear more of that from his next album!
