Liam Payne was ''shocked'' when he found out Louis Tomlinson was going to be a father.

The 21-year-old singer admitted the news his One Direction bandmate is set to have a baby following a brief relationship with stylist Brianna Jungwirth took him completely by surprise but he has revealed Louis, 23, is ''very excited'' about being a dad.

Speaking to Magic Radio's Jo Parkerson, he said: ''Well obviously I was a bit shocked but he's taken super well to it. And he's very excited with what's going on with him at the moment and I feel that stuff like that happens sometimes ... He's taking it very seriously.''

Liam also had kind words for Briana, saying: ''Yeah she's really nice, she's a lovely girl.''

Meanwhile, Liam also spoke about Zayn Malik quitting One Direction and said he knew the singer was unhappy in the band.

He explained: ''I haven't spoken to him recently and he's off doing his own thing and taking his time ... it is a difficult thing to leave the band ... but his heart wasn't in it and you have to go with your heart and say I can't do this any more and there is something out there that I do want to do that is different ... and that's fine.''

And he insisted that there are no hard feelings from the boys about Zayn launching a solo career with RCA Records.

Liam said: ''I'm dead excited to hear some of his stuff, I did a lot of work with him in the studio when he was in the band. We used to stay up late and do rap stuff which is quite interesting ... because I like to produce rap beats and stuff. He's got a great voice and he's a very talented young man and we wish him all the best of luck.''

Listen to the full interview on Magic Radio Saturday August 8 from 3pm.