Stephen Hawking imagines a parallel universe where Zayn Malik is still in One Direction

Hearts around the world were smashed to bits last month when Zayn Malik, the most mysterious One Direction member, announced he was leaving the band. The resulting emotional fallout has subsided in the following weeks, but last night, Stephen Hawking finally weighed in on the situation, according to a report from BuzzFeed.

Last night, during an event at the Sydney Opera House (where Hawking appeared as a hologram) an interviewer asked Hawking, “What do you think is the cosmological effect of Zayn leaving One Direction and consequently breaking the hearts of millions of teenage girls across the world?”

Hawking’s response was optimistic, largely because it drew from the multiverse theory, or the idea that parallel universes can exist simultaneously.

“My advice to any heartbroken young girl is to pay close attention to the study of theoretical physics. Because one day there may well be proof of multiple universes,” he said. “It would not be beyond the realms of possibility that somewhere outside of our own universe lies another different universe — and in that universe, Zayn is still in One Direction.”

So, somewhere, things in One Direction are probably still carrying on as usual, and with that image in mind, our hearts can finally start to mend.