'How dare you?' Fans react with fury after Liam Payne jokingly covers absent Zayn Malik's face on poster at One Direction photocall

Last week One Direction fans were left devastated after Zayn Malik was signed off the chart-topping boyband's On The Road Again tour due to 'stress', amid allegations he had cheated on his fianceé Perrie Edwards with a tattooed blonde in Thailand.

And while they reacted with shock and fear that this could lead to more serious problems for the band, Liam Payne proved he wasn't too upset by the departure of his bandmate.

On Monday he shared a picture of himself and the other band members Niall Horan, Louis Tomlinson and Harry Styles, posing with fans and a poster of the group, in which Liam blocked out Zayn's face with his hand. 

The cheeky star wrote on Twitter: '#makinglightofasituation sorry for the laughs guys.'

 

Joking around: Liam Payne poked fun at the turmoil his band are going through as he jokingly covered Zayn Malik's face on a poster during a photocall 

Where's Zayn? Liam covered up his face 

However, fans were quick to react and hit out at Liam for making light of his friend's absence. 

Gorgia Rose fumed: 'How dare you cover Zayn's face? Don't f**king do it again.' 

And Ana Evans wrote: '@Real_Liam_Payne what the????? Why you covering zayn;s face? Am sorry but I cant c da humour in making joke of a frnd's absence due 2 stress.'

Kristin Harris retweeted the message with her comment 'Too soon. Too soon.' 

Huda chimed in to say: 'Cover your own face next time' while a number of users wrote variations of 'Why are you covering Zayn's face?'

But it wasn't just Zayn fans that Liam found himself in hot water with, he was also blasted by Beliebers after he joked about their idol Justin Bieber's arrests. 

When user @arianasmccann wrote: '@Real_Liam_Payne Isn't it kinda depressing for you to know that Justin Bieber will always be more successful than you?,' Liam hit back by saying: 'How many times have I been arrested?'

This led to a furious Twitter war between Beliebers and Directioners with Bieber's fans horrified that Liam would mock the Baby singer. 

Angry: Fans took to Twitter to hit out at Liam for his jokey message about the Zayn situation 

While Liam didn't apologise or delete the tweet, he did write: 'Never mind, and #banter.'

Meanwhile, earlier Liam also shared a picture of his girlfriend Sophia Smith and wrote about how much he is missing her. 

While Zayn rushed home to work out his issues with Perrie and Louis has just split from his girlfriend of four years, Eleanor Calder, Liam was keen to remind people that he is happily loved up. 

He captioned the picture of her: 'I really miss you.'

Still solid: Liam shared this picture on Twitter with a message about how much he missed his girlfriend Sophia Smith

Meanwhile, last week a spokesman for the band told The Sun: 'Zayn has signed off with stress and is flying back to the UK to recuperate. The band wish him well and will continue with their performances in Manila and Jakarta.'  

It is likely his first stop once he got back to the UK was a visit to Perrie to explain exactly what happened in Thailand and grovel for the furore he has caused.

Sources told The Sun that Perrie did not believe he had cheated but was very upset about the pictures in question. 

Zayn Malik arrives back in London after quitting 1D tour

Zayn was spotted cosying up to Essex girl Lauren Richardson, causing speculation he had cheated on the Little Mix star. A source told The Sun newspaper: 'Zayn can't cope with his private life being scrutinised to this level. 

'He's worried if he'll ever be able to managed the constant attention like the rest of his bandmates.' 

Zayn pulled out of a commercial recording in Hong Kong on Thursday and flew back to the UK due to the stress of media speculation on his private life. 

Liam and Niall try to 'lighten the mood' after Zayn leaves tour

Zayn will now be absent from the band's next three performances in Asia, but is expected to rejoin Harry Styles, Liam Payne, Louis Tomlinson and Niall Horan for their show in Cape Town in South Africa, on March 28. 

Speaking about the reasons for his temporary departure from the tour, a source said: 'Zayn finds it tougher than the rest of his band-mates dealing with fame.

'Having his every movement scrutinised causes great anxiety and the pictures which surfaced with the fan yesterday was the final straw. He did nothing wrong but the amount of criticism he received was simply too much. He needs to get away.'

MailOnline has contacted a spokesperson for Zayn Malik for further comment. 

Back home to Perrie: Zayn Malik has LEFT One Direction's world tour following cheating rumours, after pictures emerged of him cuddling up to 'Essex girl' Lauren Richardson in Thailand on Wednesday

Making amends: He has publicly apologised after being pictured with his arm around Lauren. He is engaged to Little Mix star Edwards, but told his fans, 'I'm sorry for what it looks like'

Hitting out: Zayn didn't deny the story but took to Twitter to say 'sorry for what it looks like'

Tattoo fan: Lauren, like Zayn, has a number of tattoos on her body and the pretty blonde enjoyed a fun filled night out in Thailand alongside the One Direction star on Wednesday