Zayn Malik’s 5-Year-Old Daughter Khai Is His Toughest Music Critic — And She Uses Thumbs to Prove It

Zayn Malik just dropped one of the most wholesome celebrity revelations of the year. In a candid appearance on SiriusXM The Pulse, the former One Direction star opened up about…

By Reetam Bodhak

April 2, 2026

3 min read

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Zayn Malik just dropped one of the most wholesome celebrity revelations of the year. In a candid appearance on SiriusXM The Pulse, the former One Direction star opened up about how his daughter Khai — whom he shares with supermodel Gigi Hadid — influences his music, rates his songs, and even played a role in one of his biggest recent collaborations.

Zayn Malik & Khai: The Father-Daughter Music Story

Detail	Info
Artist	Zayn Malik
Age	33
Daughter’s Name	Khai
Khai’s Age	5 years old
Khai’s Date of Birth	September 19, 2020
Co-Parent	Gigi Hadid
Upcoming Album	KONNAKOL
Recent Collaboration	EYES CLOSED ft. BLACKPINK’s Jisoo
Khai’s Fave Artists	TWICE, BLACKPINK

Khai’s Adorable Rating System for Dad’s Songs

Here’s the part that melts your heart — Khai has developed her own thumbs-up-thumbs-down rating system for Zayn’s music. According to him, a single thumbs up means the song is good, a sideways thumb signals it’s just okay, and the ultimate seal of approval? A double thumbs up.

For his upcoming album KONNAKOL, Zayn shared that a few tracks earned Khai’s coveted double thumbs up, while one or two only got a sideways thumb. Tough crowd, indeed!

Of course, Zayn is careful about which songs he actually plays for his young daughter. Given the adult themes and language in some of his tracks, not everything makes it to Khai’s playlist — but the ones that do get judged thoroughly.

How Khai’s K-Pop Obsession Led to a Major Collab

Perhaps the most delightful detail of this entire story is how Khai’s love for K-pop — specifically TWICE and BLACKPINK — became the driving force behind Zayn’s high-profile collaboration with BLACKPINK’s Jisoo on the track EYES CLOSED. As a devoted dad wanting to earn serious cool points with his daughter, working with one of her K-pop idols was a no-brainer. And by his own admission, it worked — he scored some solid “dad points” for that move.

This is exactly the kind of behind-the-scenes parenting moment that makes celebrities feel genuinely human.

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FAQs

Q: Who is Zayn Malik’s daughter Khai, and who is her mother?

Khai was born on September 19, 2020, to Zayn Malik and supermodel Gigi Hadid. The former couple now co-parent their daughter after splitting up.

Q: Why did Zayn Malik collaborate with BLACKPINK’s Jisoo on EYES CLOSED?

Zayn revealed that his daughter Khai is a huge BLACKPINK fan, and getting to collaborate with Jisoo was partly his way of earning “dad points” and connecting with Khai’s musical world.