Zayn Malik Says Khai Got a $500 Tooth Fairy Gift
Zayn Malik said his 5-year-old daughter Khai has already picked up rhythm, lyrics, and a very expensive first tooth. The singer described a home life built around music, outdoor space, and a level of privacy her parents have tried to protect from the start.
Khai Malik and the drums
“She’s not expert-level, but she’s got a bit of rhythm when she’s hitting the drums and stuff,” Malik said during a 2024 appearance on The Zach Sang Show. He added that Khai knows whole songs word for word, can sing them without missing a lyric, and can run “little trills—three, four notes in one take.”
He also said, “I’m the musician and she beat me at this game!” when talking about Guitar Hero, which Khai won “all the time” when he and Gigi Hadid were dating. That kind of detail is rare from him, and it sketches a child already surrounded by music rather than a child being sold as a brand.
$500 for one tooth
Malik said in February that he gave Khai $500 from the tooth fairy for her first tooth. “I think I gave her a bit too much money,” he said, before adding, “It’s her first tooth! Her mom gave me s--t for it, but at the end of the day, I work my ass off and I should be able to give my kid what I want to give her.”
He later cut the next payout sharply. “She gets $5. The Tooth Fairy’s gone broke now, so I’m not giving you anything else.” The swing from $500 to $5 says plenty about the household scale: indulgent in one moment, practical in the next.
Pennsylvania farmhouse life
Hadid said in 2021 that their wish was for Khai to choose how to share herself with the world when she comes of age, and “that she can live as normal of a childhood as possible, without worrying about a public image that she has not chosen.” Malik echoed that approach in March 2024, saying, “I’m raising her in an environment that isn’t the same as everybody’s.”
He said the rural town would be a great place to raise a child and noted, “So, we do spend a lot of time outside.” Hadid spends most of her time at a Pennsylvania farmhouse she purchased about two hours from New York City, and her Instagram feed has shown al fresco adventures with Khai including horseback riding, water play, and exploring a nearby creek.
Malik said he took Khai to a TWICE concert in March and to a Blackpink show last July, so her musical world is already wider than a nursery playlist. The practical takeaway is simple: this is a child being raised with access to live pop culture, but on parents’ terms, not on social-media terms.
