Zayn Malik and Naughty Boy were pretty tight some months ago even before the 22-year-old decided to leave One Direction.

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Then suddenly things changed and spun out of control as Malik put the producer on blast on Twitter in July after a leak occurred that featured his vocals with British rap duo Krept & Konan.

The producer chatted with The Guardian recently about the fallout and moments leading up to it.

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"People thought we were cooking something, plotting - we were just chilling. Swear," Naughty Boy dished in regard to Malik being seen at his studio after leaving his boy band days behind, adding, "He just left the biggest pop band in the world, he needed a mate and I was a mate. We're not the kind of business-savvy heads people were assuming we were. We were in a bubble and didn't realize the magnitude."

Naughty Boy is adamant about their friendship being totally genuine despite what others say and think.

"Yeah, but I'm friends with lots of celebrities," he said, explaining, "With Zayn, it was different because we were genuinely best friends doing the best friend thing. You won't see me do that with anyone else. I don't Instagram or tweet pictures when people come here for sessions, I think it was genuinely an exciting time - for him as well."

The producer did reveal though that their bromance breakup stems from a lot more than the leak, but he didn't reveal exactly what.

"Our friendship was genuine, 100%. But then you have other relationships with lawyers and labels etc. I don't think we actually fell out over the lack of friendship or trust, I think it was external influences," he dished.

Is there hope for them to reconcile their friendship? The producer believes so "because the friendship was real."

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Zayn Malik