'She's friends with Gigi so she reached out': Zayn Malik reveals his model girlfriend helped set up Taylor Swift collaboration

Zayn Malik has revealed his girlfriend Gigi Hadid helped set up his recent collaboration with Taylor Swift.

The former One Direction star asked Taylor to sing on the track I Don't Want to Live Forever - which soundtracks the upcoming Fifty Shades Darker film.

However, he wasn't nervous about persuading her to agree to be part of the song, due to Gigi's insider info.

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Girlfriends in high places: Zayn Malik, seen arriving at the Sirius XM studios in New York on Wednesday, said his girlfriend Gigi had helped set up his Taylor Swift collaboration  

In an interview with Elvis Duran and the Morning Show on Tuesday, he said: 'The interesting thing was, she is friends with Gi, so she already reached out after hearing it because [producer] Jack [Antonoff] had just played her the song anyway and she went in the studio the next day to record it.

'She mentioned to me that she liked the song and I already kind of knew in the back of my head that she liked it,' added Zayn, who arrived at Sirius XM studio for another promotional interview on Wednesday. 

'So I asked her if she wanted to be on it and she was cool with it.' 

Revealed: On Thursday, Zayn did some Instagram promotion in aid of new single I Don't Wanna Live Forever

'Z | T | 50': The song will feature on the soundtrack for the upcoming film Fifty Shades Darker with a promo shot for the film uploaded by Taylor Swift 

Taylor and Zayn have collaborated on a new song called I Don't Wanna Live Forever (Fifty Shades Darker), which went for sale on iTunes on Thursday, speeding up the chart to number one within an hour of being released. 

Gigi, 21, is part of Taylor's famous 'girl squad' along with other famous women such as Karlie Kloss, Lorde, Ellie Goulding and Cara Delevingne. 

On Thursday, Taylor uploaded an Instagram video in which a section of the track played over a sizzling montage of the Fifty Shades Of Grey sequel's steamier moments.

Girl squad: Gigi and Taylor are good pals along with models like Karlie Kloss and Lily Aldridge 

Me and my girl: Zayn and Gigi have been dating for more than a year 

The Bad Blood star also uploaded a poster for the song showing heroine Anastasia Steele's elegant silver mask set against a grey backdrop.

Zayn meanwhile, showcased a cosier shot with a Polaroid featuring him holding his cat Garfield. 

Taylor poses next to him, holding her hands out like paws.   

Casual appearance: Zayn sported a baseball cap, black T-shirt and tracksuit for his appearance on the Sirius show  

Rock DJ: Zayn's new song has already become a success in the charts 

Meanwhile, Zayn, 23, used his radio interview to open up about his move to being a solo artist and readily admits he is much happier now than when he was part of One Direction with Niall Horan, Louis Tomlinson, Liam Payne and Harry Styles.

The Pillow Talk hitmaker said: 'I'm enjoying what I'm doing at the minute, but obviously when I was in the band, there were times where I felt like I needed that time out to recollect my thoughts and see exactly where everything was at.

'But right now I feel like I have the time to process things in my own space, it's cool and enjoyable.' 

More relaxed: Zayn said he is more relaxed in his solo career than in his One Direction days

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