Model Bella Hadid says she ‘didn’t mean to lose weight’ as she opens up about breaking up with boyfriend The Weeknd and comparing herself to sister Gigi
EVERY model worth her salt has earned a pair of angel wings – and next month Bella Hadid will join the bombshell brigade.
But her place in the much-anticipated Victoria’s Secret show has come at a high price for the 20-year-old.
Bella, the younger sister of supermodel Gigi, has lost a dramatic amount of weight and broken up with her boyfriend to focus on the event.
She has even been dogged by rumours that her pursuit of perfection has driven her to go under the knife.
Friends fear Bella is starting to crack under pressure — and even she has expressed concern about her shrinking figure, which is the result of a gruelling fitness regime to get her angel-ready.
Bella revealed: “I really didn’t mean to [lose weight]. Like, I want boobs. I want my ass back.
“My weight fluctuates and so does everybody’s and I think that if people are going to judge, that’s the worst you can possibly do because everybody is different.”
Last week, the model suddenly ended her 18-month romance with Canadian singer The Weeknd, sparking further concern from friends.
If you set your mind to something, you’ll succeed
Sources say Bella and The Weeknd — real name Abel Tesfaye — are “still very much in love” but Bella needed to “focus on herself for a while”.
She cited clashing schedules and a desire to concentrate on her career.
In recent months, the New York-based model has been following a strict diet plan and works out with
Rob Piela at Gotham Gym — a training spot in the city that is popular with Victoria’s Secret models, including sister Gigi.
She revealed: “I’ve been eating hard protein and working out for three hours every day.
“It’s crazy but I think that if you set your mind to something, I think you can succeed.”
It’s a mantra that was drilled into the ambitious model from an early age — and one that still seems to be informing her every decision.
Bella has always been hugely insecure
But despite her new super-fit shape, Bella admits that along with “every single person in the world”, she has her fair share of body hang-ups.
Earlier this year, US magazine Star claimed that Bella was riddled with insecurities because of Gigi — and hinted she’d taken drastic measures and had surgery to keep up with her successful sibling.
“Bella has always been hugely insecure,” a friend told the publication.
“But it really ramped up when Gigi started modelling. Bella went to town with her dad’s credit card and is practically unrecognisable.”
Bella, the daughter of Dutch-born model Yolanda Foster and property tycoon Mohamed Hadid, refused to comment on the speculation.
But she has previously admitted comparing her success to Gigi’s, despite her dark, ethereal appearance being strikingly different to her sister’s golden girl good looks.
She went to town with her dad’s credit card and is practically unrecognisable
She said: “I have to remind myself that she’s been doing this forever but people still love to compare and contrast us — what’s better about her or what’s not that good about me.
“It’s hard because people can be really mean.”
The sisters have managed to work together several times and will be side-by-side for the Victoria’s Secret show in Paris on December 5.
But for Bella, the world’s biggest televised fashion show will no doubt be the pinnacle of her modelling career.
Even before she set foot on a runway, Bella harboured big dreams.
Growing up in a sprawling £13million Malibu mansion, she began riding horses almost as soon as she could walk, and competed in her first equestrian event at the age of three.
Bella won a string of awards, achieved national ranking and even planned to compete at the 2016 Olympics in Rio de Janeiro.
Bella and her brother Anwar, 17, found out they’d contracted the disease after Yolanda was diagnosed in 2012.
It is thought the trio were infected years before their diagnosis through their contact with horses.
The disease affected Bella’s ability to ride — and dramatically resulted in a car accident, which was reported as a drink-driving scandal at the time. Bella said: “It was when I first got sick. It was a dark time.
“It affected my memory so I suddenly wouldn’t remember how to drive to Santa Monica from Malibu, where I lived.
“I couldn’t ride as I was just too sick. And I had to sell my horse because I couldn’t take care of it.
“It was my dream and what I did every single day until I realised I didn’t have the brainpower to ride horses any more, so that was the end of that.”
But Bella didn’t sit around twiddling her thumbs for long and switched to modelling — a career she has pursued with the same relentless focus that she applied to horseriding. Soon she was selected for a Topshop campaign, and soon popped up in shows for Balmain, Tom Ford and Diane Von Furstenberg.
GQ magazine recently crowned her Model of the Year and she was also ranked one of the Top 50 models in the world by . Because of her illness, Bella has to limit her modelling workload and swerves all the wild parties — but insists it won’t hold her back.
She said: “I used to be the last to go home at a party . . . now I’m the first.”
Both Bella and Gigi get their remarkable work ethic from their father Mohamed, 68, who fled the bloodshed of his native Palestine and eventually settled in the United States aged 15.
He spoke fractured English but was determined to make good on the American dream.
He started out selling classic cars, and went on to buy several Ritz Carlton hotels. He is now worth an estimated £60million.
Bella’s mother Yolanda, 52, is the original model in the family.
But she became a household name in America when she joined the cast of reality TV show, The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills in 2012.
Since then, the entire family have been members of the Hollywood elite — so it made sense that Bella fell for a fellow celebrity. She and The Weeknd started dating in early 2015 and documented their relationship in a series of smitten Instagram posts.
Bella once gushed: “I’m dating Abel. I don’t see him as The Weeknd. I’m proud of The Weeknd and the music he makes, but I really love Abel.”
Awkwardly, Abel is set to perform at next month’s Victoria’s Secret show, alongside Lady Gaga and Bruno Mars.
Anticipating an uncomfortable run-in with her ex is thought to be increasing the stress on Bella.
A source said: “Bella was so excited that she’s walking in the Victoria’s Secret show this year and she knows it may be a bit strange having her ex perform.
“But she will be OK because she’ll have all her best friends there.”
Hopefully all the stresses and strains will be worth it.
Starring in the show will see Bella join the ranks of “angels alumni” Naomi Campbell, Gisele Bundchen and Miranda Kerr.
With all that ambitious drive behind her, when she has finally got her wings, there is no doubt she will continue to soar.