On Thursday's (December 19) episode of Watch What Happen Live With Andy Cohen, the former One Directioner was asked about Styles referring to Malik as "Ringo" during his recent hosting gig on the NBC sketch comedy show.

“I’m not in a boy band anymore. I’m in a man band now. I was in a band called One Direction.” Styles joked during his monologue. “I love those guys. Niall, Liam, Louis…and, uh, Ringo! Yeah, that’s it.” (As most fans know, Malik left 1D in 2015 and Ringo Starr is often referred to as a forgotten member of The Beatles.)

"I think it's just a funny joke at the end of the day. Obviously Zayn's circumstances for leaving were his own and it's a different situation for all of us and I suppose we deal with it in a different way," Payne said.

"I thought it was quite funny," he added.

Elsewhere in his interview, the 26-year-old singer opened up about reuniting with Styles at iHeart’s Jingle Ball concert, revealing the ex-bandmates spoke about "a number of things" including "kids and happiness."

We hadn't seen each other for 3 years, we haven't spoken or anything," he shared. "So it was good to see him, he was pretty much the same boy that I left him. We spoke about kids and happiness and all sorts of stuff."

For more from Liam Payne on WWHL, check out the video below:

One Direction Through the Years

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