It's hard to imagine a One Direction without heartthrob Zayn Malik, but the 20-year old singer came close to being kicked out of the ultra-successful boy band in its early stages, MSN reports. What did he do to annoy his fellow bandmates?

During a press conference today in London for One Direction's upcoming 3D documentary "One Direction: This Is Us," bandmate Liam Payne revealed that Malik had a bad habit that made rehearsal very difficult.

''The first week we got together it was all a bit strange trying to get people together for rehearsals," Payne told reporters. "Still to this day it's a struggle to get Zayn out of bed.''

Filmmaker Morgan Spurlock, who shot the new movie, was quick to remind the boys, ''Remember he didn't show up and you were going to fire him?"

Malik came close to being kicked off of "The X-Factor" altogether during his season (U.K. series 7), as at a boot camp rehearsal, Simon Cowell had to convince the teen to get back on stage and dance after an uncomfortable Malik had stormed off. Cowell could have eliminated him, but the media mogul had a feeling about the young singer from the beginning, and luckily, his inkling was correct, as Zayn Malik is now one of the most popular and most Googled teen stars in the world, and the band's net worth is an estimated $30-40 million so far, according to Starcasm, and that's not counting how much they'll rake in following their next album and new movie.

Despite initial awkwardness in the band's beginning stages, the boys have developed deep and long-lasting friendships through the years, enjoying their skyrocket to fame and success. For Malik, being able to buy his mother a new house (an emotional scene featured in the new movie) has perhaps been the highlight of his career.

''It was quite strange filming because it was the first time I'd actually spoken to my mum about it and she'd gone round the house. It was quite strange but it was good and it's amazing thing to do," Malik said at the conference. ''I can look back on that in a few years time and I've got amazing footage of my mum seeing the house for the first time.

"It t was really strange having the cameras around but at the same time it doesn't make that much of a difference, there was no big set ups and stuff so it was kind of just getting on with your day.''

We'll get to meet the rest of the band's family and friends in the new film, which promises an in-depth and personal look at their lives behind the scenes.