Bella Hadid Reveals Her Plastic Surgery History and How Being Seen as the ‘Uglier’ Sister to Gigi Affected Her
Bella Hadid gave Vogue a very candid interview about her physical and mental health struggles, and revealed how being compared to her older sister Gigi affected her as she navigated her career in the fashion industry.
The model also addressed what plastic surgery she has actually had—and her regrets over it. Namely, Bella revealed she had a nose job at 14 and wishes she hadn’t. “I wish I had kept the nose of my ancestors,” she said. “I think I would have grown into it.”
Other claims that she has gotten her eyes lifted, jaws shaved, etc. are untrue, she insisted. “People think I fully fucked with my face because of one picture of me as a teenager looking puffy,” Bella said. “I’m pretty sure you don’t look the same now as you did at 13, right? I have never used filler. Let’s just put an end to that. I have no issue with it, but it’s not for me. Whoever thinks I’ve gotten my eyes lifted or whatever it’s called—it’s face tape! The oldest trick in the book. I’ve had this impostor syndrome where people made me feel like I didn’t deserve any of this. People always have something to say, but what I have to say is, I’ve always been misunderstood in my industry and by the people around me.”
Regarding comparisons to Gigi in particular, Bella recalled how the comments got to her. “I was the uglier sister. I was the brunette. I wasn’t as cool as Gigi, not as outgoing,” she recalled. “That’s really what people said about me. And unfortunately when you get told things so many times, you do just believe it. I always ask myself, how did a girl with incredible insecurities, anxiety, depression, body-image issues, eating issues, who hates to be touched, who has intense social anxiety—what was I doing getting into this business? But over the years I became a good actress. I put on a very smiley face, or a very strong face. I always felt like I had something to prove. People can say anything about how I look, about how I talk, about how I act. But in seven years I never missed a job, canceled a job, was late to a job. No one can ever say that I don’t work my ass off.”
Gigi spoke to Vogue about what it has been like being there for Bella through her mental health journey. Currently, Bella manages her mental health through a holistic regimen, talk therapy, and medication.
“It was always really hard, and it still is sometimes, to feel like I could help my sister in her moments of darkness or pain,” Gigi said. “I think it’s always a journey with loved ones, and we’ve gotten better about not assuming the other knows what we need or want. Bella leads with her heart, and that’s beautiful, but you learn the hard way to guard yourself. Most people, myself included, build at least a small wall, after you feel vulnerable in these often unusual life situations. It seems to me like Bella does not—or she only puts up one brick at a time. During fashion month, for example. Even if it leads to feeling essentially emotionally burnt out, Bella spends every day backstage, in fittings, with fans, doing it all with the most energy and love, while the rest of us are zombies. Because I know that she’s sometimes internally struggling in the midst of all the flashing lights, the big sister in me wants to be protective. But I also know that that’s the magic of Bella.”
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