When Hailey Bieber and husband Justin Bieber announced in May that they were expecting their first child, the model was nearly six months pregnant and ready for some “freedom to go out and live my life.”
“I didn’t enjoy the stress of not being able to enjoy my pregnancy outwardly,” the model and Rhode cosmetics founder said in a recent interview. “I felt like I was hiding this big secret, and it didn’t feel good.”
Hailey Bieber (née Baldwin), 27, got candid about her road to motherhood, telling W magazine in a cover story published Tuesday that it would have been possible for her to keep her baby bump hidden “until the end.” The Biebers announced they were expecting in a pair of matching Instagram posts in May. Videos and photos showed the model wearing a white lace gown and cradling what appears to be a baby bump. Bieber told W she “stayed small for a long time” and was able to keep her pregnancy a secret with “big jackets and stuff.”
Since the pregnancy announcement, Bieber has publicly embraced her bump, baring her midriff in Instagram posts and at Rhode events. The Biebers are expecting their first child together more than four years after they married in New York City. Bieber also told W, “People have made me feel so bad about my relationship [with Justin Bieber] since day one.”
Addressing years of negative speculation and criticism surrounding her romance with the 30-year-old “Sorry” and “Peaches” singer, Hailey Bieber said, “It’s like people don’t want to believe that we’re happy.”
“I’ve tried to think that you get used to it at a certain point, that this is what’s going to be said and this is how people are going to be,” she added. “But I realize that it doesn’t actually ever hurt any less.”
The model, the daughter of actor Stephen Baldwin and niece of Alec Baldwin, also reflected on her “not super close” relationship with her family. “I feel like I’m very independent,” she said.
“I’m my own individual now, and I’ve built my own family,” she added. “But when I look back on my childhood and how I grew up, I have very fond, beautiful memories.”
