One Direction’s Zayn Malik is taking a break from the band’s On the Road Again World Tour due to stress as rumors swirl that he cheated on his fiancée Perrie Edwards in Thailand.

Zayn Malik Quits 1D Tour

Malik, 22, has left the One Direction tour ahead of a commercial recording in Hong Kong to fly back home to the UK. “Zayn has signed off with stress and is flying back to the UK to recuperate,” a rep for the band told Billboard. “The band wish him well and will continue with their performances in Manila and Jakarta.”

Though he will be missing for One Directions next three performances in Asia, he’s expected to return to the band by their show in Cape Town, South Africa on March 28.

On Wednesday, pictures surfaced from Malik’s night out in Phuket, Thailand at nightclub Seduction to watch a DJ set by Example with bandmate Louis Tomlinson. The pictures show Malik posing with his arm around and holding hands with a girl named Lauren Richardson. Immediately, rumors swirled that the singer was being unfaithful on the road.

After the story broke, Malik took to Twitter to deny any wrongdoing and profess his love for Edwards, who’s in UK girl group Little Mix. “I’m 22 years old… I love a girl named Perrie Edwards,” he tweeted. “And there’s a lot of jealous f–ks in this world. I’m sorry for what it looks like x.”

Richardson has since made her Instagram page private and has had her friends come to her defense, claiming that nothing scandalous happened between her and the pop star.

“It’s probably totally innocent. She’s just had her picture taken with a celebrity and now it’s blown up to this,” a friend of Richardson’s told the Daily Mail. “Not everything is as it seems in a picture. A picture is just a picture. She’s a fun and bubbly girl and she is bound to end up having her picture taken with boys.”

Malik and Edwards first began dating in late 2011. After a brief split, they were back together again in April 2012 and became engaged in August 2013.