Bella Hadid reflected on her Muslim roots, her battle with Lyme disease and dating after her split from The Weeknd in the summer issue of Net-a-Porter’s Porter magazine.
The 20-year-old supermodel explained that her real estate mogul father, Mohamed Hadid, gave her an Islamic upbringing. “My dad was a refugee when he first came to America, so [President Donald Trump’s travel ban] is actually very close to home for my sister [Gigi Hadid] and brother [Anwar Hadid] and me,” she said. “He was always religious, and he always prayed with us. I am proud to be a Muslim.”
Meanwhile, the brunette beauty says her “best friend” and mom, Yolanda Hadid, taught her how to stay down-to-earth despite the reality star’s appearance on The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills. “It was just a job [for my mom],” she said. “She’s been a single mother my whole life.” (Yolanda and Mohamed split in 2000.)
The mother-daughter duo, along with model brother Anwar, all suffer from chronic Lyme disease, and Yolanda’s search for a cure was documented on her final season of RHOBH. “I couldn’t get out of bed for six days. And my brain would get all foggy, and I couldn’t see,” Bella recalled of her own diagnosis. “That was the hardest time of my life.”
Despite her medical struggle, Bella’s career has only continued to skyrocket. The social media superstar is fully concentrating on modeling after her breakup from boyfriend of two years The Weeknd last fall, and said she’s not worried about dating at the moment. “I’m just really focusing on myself, and my work, and just being the best that I can be,” Bella said. “I’m not really worried about what guys think about me, I’m just trying to be a woman!” (Meanwhile, The Weekend is now dating Selena Gomez.)
The fashionista has been flaunting her killer bikini body on Instagram since the split and revealed she’s totally comfortable with leaving little to the imagination. “My mom is very European, so our whole life we were very open about that stuff,” she told the magazine. “It was just more casual.”
