Zayn Malik has said he is “truly sorry” to cancel a scheduled performance at the last minute due to issues with his voice.

The former One Direction star was scheduled to appear at the O2 City Hall Newcastle as part of his 2024 Stairway To The Sky tour, but appeared to cancel moments before he was due on stage.

“I’m so sorry to do this but my voice just isn’t there at all tonight and without it there’s no show,” Malik said in a post to his Instagram story on Tuesday.

“I’m truly sorry to let you down, especially at such short notice … I held onto hope until the very last moment.

“I’m hopeful with some rest tonight I’ll be back on stage tomorrow. My deepest apologies Newcastle love you all.”

Malik is expected to perform at the O2 Apollo Manchester on Wednesday.

It comes after the star rescheduled two of his Edinburgh shows “due to unforeseen circumstances” last month.

The original November 20 performance was rescheduled for December 8, while the November 21 date at the same O2 Academy Edinburgh venue was moved to December 9, organisers said.

Malik also postponed the US leg of his tour over the “heartbreaking loss” of band member Liam Payne in October.

Last week, Malik kicked off his tour in Leeds’s O2 Academy, with an on-stage blue screen message which read: “Liam Payne 1993-2024. Love you bro” with a pink heart.

Malik left One Direction in 2015 before the group went on indefinite hiatus in 2016 and, following the loss of Payne, wrote on Instagram that he “never got to thank” the singer for supporting him through some of the “most difficult” times in his life.

Payne died aged 31 on October 16 of multiple traumas and “internal and external haemorrhage” after falling from a third-floor balcony of the Casa Sur Hotel in the Argentine capital Buenos Aires.

An investigation has been launched into his death by prosecutors, and three people have been charged in connection with the incident.