Zayn Malik from One Direction, ‘The X Factor’ UK not dead, despite ‘reports’

Stop us when this one sounds familiar: Someone else on Twitter has been “killed off” today, and it is One Direction member Zayn Malik. The rumor started courtesy of a doctored BBC article, which makes it appear like he passed away of “unknown causes.”

This is not a very easy story to blow up, and for so many reasons. For one, the doctored story out there about his death is from a BBC page dated in February 13, and if you go to the news site’s actual page, there is no such story on there. If the former “X Factor” star was really dead, wouldn’t it be everywhere? You have to think so. The story would be all over the internet in a split second, thanks to the massive One Direction fan base and the British media, who are pretty hungry to jump on any and all stories that are deemed scandalous.

Nonetheless, #RIPZaynMalik was the #1 Trending Topic on the social-networking site, with many tweeting claiming it’s a joke. But let this be reassurance for some of you are actually questioning it: He’s not dead, just as he wasn’t the past few times Twitter killed him off. He may not have tweeted regularly on his account as of late, but things are actually quiet right now in the One Direction camp. Given the amount of time that these guys have spent on the road as of late, we understand that.

Ultimately, you better just prepare for a whole flurry of “dead celebrity” stories in the next 48 hours, thanks largely to April Fools’ Day and the different times around the world that it arrives. Someone always starts it, and then allows the internet to flood itself with all sorts of nasty threats directed at this said instigator.

If there is ever legitimate news about his condition, we’ll have it here. You can also sign up for our CarterMatt Newsletter to get some more news on everything we cover TV-wise via email.

Photo: ITV