Like mother, like daughter? Gigi Hadid may have been a child model, but that doesn’t necessarily mean she wants the same for her 16-month-old daughter, Khai.
“Technically, I started modeling when I did Baby Guess,” the Los Angeles native, 26, said in her InStyle cover story, published on Wednesday, February 2. “But I don’t really remember my childhood modeling. It was more something that was fun for me because I got to play in the sand. My mom, [Yolanda Hadid], took me out of it before I realized it, so it never got to my head.”
When asked whether Khai would follow in her Baby Guess footsteps, Gigi replied, “No. You know, she’s going to do what she wants to do. She could be an astronaut. I don’t know. … She could be the first astronaut to go to space with [Minnie Mouse] ears on.”
The model gushed about her and Zayn Malik’s “smart” toddler, calling the little one “so aware.” The former New School student explained, “She watches everything, she’s always learning, she’s always looking. She’s just awesome.”
Gigi noted that she “still can’t believe” she became a mom in September 2020, saying, “It’s wild. A lot of my mom friends feel like that, and we’re nearing the first couple years [with our kids]. You’re obsessed with them, but sometimes you turn and you’re like, ‘Oh, my God. Where did you come from?’ … [My friends and I] only talk about babies and sleeping and what bottles don’t leak. One of them was like, ‘Hey, do you ever want to get dinner without the kids?’ I was like, ‘Yeah, girl. Let’s go.’”
The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills alum shared more sweet details about life with Khai, from dressing up in “iridescent pink” mouse ears to “letting [her]self rest” as a working mom.
Gigi coparents her daughter with on-again, off-again partner Malik, 29. The duo are “getting along just fine” after splitting last year, a source exclusively told Us Weekly earlier this month, calling the former One Direction member a “responsible” dad.
“They’ve been in each other’s lives in some way or another for the past few weeks,” the insider said at the time. “There is no custody battle going on right now — they’re just trying to work things out as coparents.”
The singer was charged with four criminal offenses in October 2020 after an alleged altercation with Yolanda, 58. The England native pleaded no contest to the charges and wrote via Twitter that he was “hopeful” for “healing.”
Malik tweeted, “As you all know I am a private person and I very much want to create a safe and private space for my daughter to grow up in. A place where private family matters aren’t thrown on the world stage for all to poke and pick apart. In an effort to protect that space for her, I agreed to not contest claims arising from an argument I had with a family member of my partner’s who entered our home while my partner was away several weeks ago.”
The songwriter was subsequently fined for the incident, put on probation for 360 days and ordered to complete anger management classes and a domestic violence program. Yolanda has yet to publicly address the alleged incident.
