In the eyes of younger generations, the Hadids are the natural successors to the Kardashians: a wealthy reality TV family with a fondness for cameras, social media drama, and the finer things in life. The only difference is that the Hadids are a family full of top models.
The matriarch, patriarch, and their three stunning children are now well known in pop culture. It would be hard to find someone who hasn’t heard of Gigi, Bella, and Anwar. Over the past decade, the Hadids have become the “first family” of fashion. This is their story.
Out of the Barn and Onto the Runway
As the matriarch of the Hadid family, Yolanda Hadid has come a long way since her humble beginnings in Holland. After her father died in a car accident when she was a child, Yolanda felt a responsibility to provide for her mother and brother. She started working odd jobs to make money.
From working in a barn to waitressing at a Chinese restaurant, Yolanda did everything to get a monthly paycheck. While doing hair at a fashion show, the designer asked her to fill in for a model, and Ford Models discovered her. At 16, she was unexpectedly thrust into the world of fashion.
From Holland to Hollywood
Although Yolanda had dreams of becoming a professional equestrian, her modeling career took off, and her childhood was over. Her goal of providing for her family and being financially independent had arrived. Yolanda moved from one fashion capital to the next, making incredible money and making successful investments.
She had a fantastic 15-year run in the modeling world. Yolanda felt extremely accomplished, but she was exhausted and didn’t want to live out of a suitcase anymore. That’s when she met Mohamed Hadid and settled down from the fast-paced fashion world.
Middle Eastern Roots
The family’s patriarch, Mohamed Hadid, also came from modest beginnings like Yolanda. He was one of eight children born in Nazareth. The family fled to Syria around 1948 shortly after Mohamed was born. His family moved from Damascus to Tunisia to Greece before settling in Washington DC.
While living in DC, Mohamed earned money by restoring and reselling classic cars in the Georgetown neighborhood. He used the money he made to move back to Greece to open a nightclub. With those profits, Mohamed was able to start developing real estate in the United States. But he ran into some trouble.
Riding the High
In the ‘80s, most of Mohamed’s financial power came from the SAAR Foundation. It was a 50-50 partner in most of his ventures. However, in the late ‘80s, he was facing 30 lawsuits from creditors and banks claiming he hadn’t fulfilled his financial obligations. It didn’t seem to affect his business.
The money poured in, and Mohamed paid $150 million for the Ritz-Carlton hotels in DC and New York. He also beat out another well-known real estate investor for property in Aspen to build a 292-room Ritz resort. In the ‘90s, business was booming, and his life was about to change.
Settling in Los Angeles
After dating for a year, Mohamed and Yolanda got married in 1994 and moved to Los Angeles. Yolanda became the stepmom to Mohamed’s kids from his first marriage, Alana and Marielle, but they wanted to have their own children. Shortly after they married, Gigi was born.
Their second child, Bella, was born a year later, in 1996, and Anwar came into the world in 1999. Yolanda and Mohamed’s children were the light of their lives. However, during Anwar’s birth, Yolanda broke her back, and her recovery sent her into a depression.
Short-Lived Love
Unfortunately, Yolanda and Mohamed’s marriage didn’t last long. The couple got divorced in 2000 because Mohamed was unfaithful. While the divorce was difficult on everyone in the family, the former couple remained close friends to co-parent their children. They were still highly involved in each other’s lives.
While Mohamed remained in Los Angeles, Yolanda and the children moved to Montecito, California. She found a ranch where she could show her children what it was like to be around animals and away from the fancy life. It helped her heal from the wounds of her marriage.
Reality TV Fame
In 2012, Yolanda became a household name when she joined the Real Housewives of Beverly Hills cast. Her storyline mainly focused on her recent marriage to David Foster. The show also featured Gigi, Bella, and Anwar, which helped them launch their careers.
Although Gigi had been modeling since she was two, her career didn’t take off until her mom gained fame from RHOBH. The whole family started to get more recognition, and the reality series gave a peek into the beginnings of their careers.
Following in Her Mom’s Footsteps
Gifted with unbelievable genetics, Gigi has been stunning since she was a baby. Because she was so gorgeous, Yolanda decided to get Gigi into the modeling world when she was two. Paul Marciano of Guess discovered her and put Gigi in numerous Baby Guess ads.
After spending 15 years in the fashion industry, Yolanda had connections with many influential people, which helped young Gigi book jobs. However, Gigi stopped modeling when she started school because Yolanda wanted her to have a childhood and enjoy not having to work.
“Gigi” Is Just a Nickname
Born Jelena Noura Hadid, people started calling her Gigi as a nickname, and it stuck. She has become a household name, and Gigi rolls off the tongue a lot easier than Jelena. As the oldest of the Hadid siblings, she set an example for her younger siblings.
However, like all children, Gigi had her rebellious moments. Before her first Guess ad, she cut her own bangs. The two-year-old messed up her hair, so the photographer made her wear a bandana for the shoot. Hopefully, no one left her with scissors after that.
Bella Didn’t Always Want to Model
Bella, born Isabella Khair Hadid, also goes by her nickname, like her sister. Unlike Gigi, Bella wasn’t interested in modeling when she was younger. While growing up on the family’s ranch, she became interested in horseback riding and worked to be a skilled equestrian.
She had dreams of competing in the Olympics and trained for the 2016 games. Bella was nationally ranked, so she had a good shot at qualifying. Unfortunately, her health condition held her back from continuing on her Olympic journey. She still rides horses for fun.
Riches to More Riches
Before the Hadid children walked the runways and worked with top fashion brands, they didn’t have to do much to achieve wealth. Because of their parents’ careers, the Hadids were loaded prior to being famous. Mohamed’s multi-million-dollar real estate business gave them luxurious lives.
Although they mostly lived on a ranch with their mom, the Hadids often visited their dad’s $85 million mega-mansion in Bel Air. They often had birthday or graduation parties at the home that was more like a palace. The Hadids got a taste for luxury long before we knew them.
Descendants of Royalty
While they might steal the throne of the most famous family from the Kardashians, the Hadids won’t be ruling anything besides the fashion world. Their father is very proud of his background and shared their royal lineage on his Instagram a few years ago.
Stage Mom Alert
As people found out on RHOBH, Yolanda has been highly involved in her children’s modeling careers since the beginning. She made Gigi choose between volleyball and modeling because she didn’t want Gigi to be too muscular. Yolanda was also too hands-on at photoshoots.
While Yolanda’s intentions were in the right place, she reportedly went to every casting and runway show to tell her daughters how to walk and work the camera. In one scene of the RHOBH, Yolanda started changing an outfit a stylist had put together for a magazine shoot, and it was rude.
The Youngest Hadid
As the youngest Hadid sibling, Anwar is still finding his place in the spotlight. Named after his grandfather, Anwar means luminous in Arabic, and the name was chosen to honor Mohamed’s heritage. Like his sisters, he is also a model.
Although the 22-year-old has been featured on RHOBH and regularly attends red carpet events, he is still shy. According to Yolanda, Anwar likes to be in the background instead of in the spotlight. She said she has to push Anwar to do things out of his comfort zone.
Family Heath Struggles
If you are a RHOBH fan, you already know that Yolanda, Bella, and Anwar have chronic Lyme disease. Their struggles with the chronic illness were a significant plot point on the reality show because Yolanda’s condition severely declined as she tried many experimental treatments.
The chronic illness causes pain and fatigue, and it has taken a toll on their lives. Bella stopped training for the Olympics because of her Lyme disease. It also was a primary factor in Yolanda’s divorce from David Foster because she was so sick and couldn’t participate in his life.
Gigi Has Her Own Health Battles
Although Gigi doesn’t have Lyme disease like her mom and siblings, she has faced her own health struggles. In 2014, Gigi was diagnosed with Hashimoto’s disease, an autoimmune disorder that attacks the thyroid gland. It has been easily treatable, but it made Gigi insecure.
A common symptom of the disorder is weight gain, and online trolls often criticized Gigi for her size. While we see nothing wrong with how she looks, Gigi tweeted that people said she was “too big for the industry.” The haters will always find something to hate.
A Second Divorce
After getting married to musician David Foster in 2011, their relationship seemed picture-perfect. She was the doting wife who supported all his work. Through their fun dinner parties and adorable dates, Foster and Yolanda always looked happy.
However, when Yolanda got sick with Lyme, she couldn’t take care of him as she used to, and they lived in separate homes so she could be closer to her doctors. Despite these setbacks, Yolanda was blindsided by their divorce. Foster reportedly told Yolanda her “sick card is up.”
They Share Siblings With Kendall and Kylie Jenner
While they might not be related by blood, in the tangled web of Beverly Hills romances, the Hadids once had a relation to Kendall and Kylie Jenner. Their former stepdad, David Foster, was once married to Caitlyn Jenner’s ex-wife, Linda Thompson (the mother of Brandon and Brody Jenner).
Foster was Brandon and Brody’s stepfather for 14 years. In some complicated way, the Hadid children were sort of stepsiblings with the Jenners. In turn, they basically shared siblings with Kendall and Kylie. It’s confusing, but that’s Hollywood.
Bella Is a Natural Blonde
Whenever Bella posts pictures of herself as a baby, people notice that she had the same blonde hair as Gigi. Her sister is known for her signature blonde locks, but Bella has become famous as a brunette. In reality, Bella dyes her hair to avoid comparisons to her sister.
We can’t blame her because having a sister in the same industry must draw many comparisons regardless of their hair color. Bella has adopted a completely different style than Gigi to distinguish herself. However, her hair isn’t the only fake thing about her.
Bella’s Hiding Something
Although she has continuously denied getting plastic surgery, the pictures speak for themselves. While things like age and makeup can significantly impact someone’s face, there have been substantial changes to Bella’s face over the past few years since she came into the spotlight.
Bella’s nose shape completely changed. She used to have a wider nose like her father, but it is now slimmer and more upturned. Expert plastic surgeons also believe she had Botox to lift her eyebrows, dermal fillers in her cheeks, and fat removal to make her face slimmer.
Yolanda Has Had Some Work Done Too
She might deny that Bella has gotten any plastic surgery or fillers, but Yolanda hasn’t been shy about the work she had done. In the past, Yolanda had breast implants, fillers, and Botox. However, she got everything removed in 2016 due to health complications.
After finding out she had free-floating silicone in her body because her breast implants leaked, Yolanda went under the knife to have her implants and the silicone removed. She also decided to have all her Botox and fillers removed to be completely natural.
Bella Got Into Some Legal Trouble
She might look innocent, but Bella is a bad girl underneath that facade. In 2014, when she was 17 years old, Bella was arrested for a DUI. Not only was she four years under the legal drinking age, but she was also driving with a suspended license.
The drama played out on RHOBH when Yolanda was on vacation and got the call about Bella. She was barely in the modeling industry, which was not a great way to start her career. People have seemed to forget about this mistake.
Gigi Started to Study Criminal Psychology
When Gigi graduated high school, she initially wanted to get her college degree while working as a model. We saw her move to New York into a stunning apartment to attend The New School to study criminal psychology. However, she didn’t last long.
As Gigi’s modeling career started to take off, she decided to put school on hold to focus on her fast-paced career. Unfortunately, she hasn’t returned to her studies because she has no time between photoshoots, fashion week, and being a new mom.
What Is Gigi Hadid’s Baby’s Name?
On September 24, 2020, Gigi announced the birth of her daughter, Khai Hadid Malik. The model only revealed her daughter’s name four months after she was born by adding “Khai’s Mom” to her Instagram bio. She was named in honor of Gigi’s grandmother on her father’s side.
Bella’s middle name is Khair, after her grandmother, so the name has become a family tradition to pass down. Gigi shares her daughter with her on-again-off-again boyfriend, Zayne Malik. The two recently split (for good this time) but will co-parent their daughter.
Is Gigi Hadid Married?
Gigi is not married, but she was in a long-term relationship with former One Direction singer Zayne Malik. The two first started dating in late 2015 and have been on a roller coaster ever since. The two have broken up numerous times, but it’s really over this time.
Gigi and Malik seemed like they were on track to forever happiness after announcing that they were expecting their daughter in 2020 and moved in together in a farmhouse in Pennsylvania. Sadly, the couple ended things in October 2021 after Yolanda claimed that Malik “struck” her.
Where Does Yolanda Hadid Live?
During quarantine, Yolanda and her family gave us a peek inside her $4 million Pennsylvania farmhouse. She purchased the property in 2017 and recently made it her full-time residence since the beginning of the pandemic. It was like the home she raised her children in.
Bella and Gigi joined their mom at the stunning estate. Malik also purchased a home close to Yolanda’s for him and Gigi to raise their daughter. They all enjoyed privacy while the world shut down. The family got to get back to their roots on the farm.
Who Is Yolanda Hadid Dating?
After her public divorce from David Foster, Yolanda took some time to focus on her health and her children’s lives. Yolanda stepped out in the summer of 2019 with a new man on her arm, Joseph Jingoli. He is the CEO of a construction and development company.
Yolanda wasn’t looking for love when she met Jingoli, but he happened to ring the doorbell at her farm. Jingoli and Yolanda are about to celebrate their third anniversary, and she said he is the man she prayed for all her life. They look so in love and share a passion for farm life.
Are Bella Hadid and The Weeknd Still Together?
In 2015, Bella and The Weeknd began their three-year on-and-off romance. During one of their longer breaks, The Weeknd dated Selena Gomez, but he got back together with Bella after their breakup. They seemed like soulmates when they reunited in 2018.
However, Bella and The Weeknd broke up in 2019 (again). The couple remained friendly after because they still loved each other. While rumors swirled that they were back together at the beginning of 2021, Bella has had eyes for someone else since the middle of 2020.
Who Is Bella Hadid Dating?
Bella has since moved on from her former singer boyfriends. The model has been secretly dating art director Marc Kalman since July 2020. Bella and Kalman snuck around for a year before confirming their romance. They strategically wouldn’t leave places simultaneously to keep everything a secret.
They wanted to keep everything private and rarely had any PDA moments. Bella and Kalman are still going strong, and she is reportedly thrilled to finally have her relationship out in the open. It must take a lot of planning and thought to hide a relationship for a year.
Anwar Has Other Talents
Anwar might be in the public eye much less than his sisters, but we can’t forget about him. Besides modeling, Anwar is a talented musician. He quietly released his debut album Bleach in 2019. The youngest Hadid also has a unisex jewelry line.
The Hadids are clearly more than pretty faces. While his music career has been a quiet project, Anwar isn’t shy about showing off his tattoos. He revealed that most of them no longer mean anything to him like they once did, but it doesn’t bother him.
Anwar Is Dating a Famous Musician
While he has kept his music career quiet, Anwar’s girlfriend has topped all the charts. Dua Lipa and Anwar bonded over music in 2019, and their relationship blossomed. He is a huge supporter of her music, and she even went to his grandmother’s funeral in Holland.
Anwar and Dua Lipa have been going strong for two years, but new rumors say their relationship is on the rocks. Their busy work schedules have kept them apart for almost six weeks. While she is back and forth between London and LA, he is in New York.
Is It the End for Anwar and Dua Lipa?
The couple has been apart for a while now because of their hectic lives and travel constraints. While Anwar and Dua Lipa have seemed like the perfect match, they might be headed for a break. He posted a cryptic message on his Instagram about learning to be happy alone.
Dua Lipa and Anwar keep things relatively private, but they adopted a puppy together, and she said, “I’m very comfortable in the relationship, more so than others.” Maybe the rumors aren’t true, and they are just too busy to be together in person at the moment.
There Are Two More Hadid Sisters
Gigi and Bella might be the more famous Hadid sisters, but they have other siblings. Their father was married before he met Yolanda and had two daughters. Marielle and Alana Hadid are Mohamed’s daughters from his marriage to Mary Butler.
Although Marielle and Alana are their half-sisters, they are all very close. The eldest, Marielle, is a mother of two and has an eyewear brand called Hadid Eyewear. She is 41 and her sister Alana is 36. Alana is also in the fashion world, working as a fashion designer.
Alana and Marielle Are Stunning
Like their famous model sisters, Alana and Marielle are just as gorgeous. They boast a significant number of followers on Instagram and know how to work the camera. While they aren’t in the spotlight as much as their other siblings, they deserve the recognition.
Alana and Marielle are occasionally featured in posts with Gigi and Bella. They all have busy lives, but the Hadids have a strong family bond. There is no room for sibling rivalry in this family because Alana and Marielle support their younger siblings unconditionally.
Mohamed Had Another Fiancé
The patriarch of the Hadid family has been in several relationships. While his most famous partner was Yolanda, his long engagement with Iranian model Shiva Safai was highly publicized. She was 33 years younger than him. Shiva and Mohamed were featured on E!’s Second Wives Club, but they never married.
Although Shiva got Yolanda and her children’s stamp of approval, Mohamed was again tangled in cheating allegations. After five years together, Shiva confirmed her split from Mohamed by posting a photo with her new boyfriend, to whom she is now married.
Mohamed Has Been Sued Over 30 Times
Bella isn’t the only one who has had legal trouble in the family. Her father has been sued at least 30 times. Most recently, his $50 million Bel Air mega-mansion got him into legal and financial trouble. He built the home twice the size of what was legally allowed.
It went against LA’s building codes. Mohamed told a court that he was too broke to knock it down. The $50 million home sold for $8.5 million and was demolished once the sale closed. Mohamed owes $15 million in court judgments against him plus more millions for loans and investors.
A Fashion Family
While their mom was a model herself, the Hadids’ grandfather was also in the fashion business. Yolanda’s father was a men’s shirt designer before he passed away. The children never met him because he was in a tragic accident when Yolanda was seven.
However, they keep his memory alive with their work within the fashion industry. Who knows? Maybe Anwar will start designing men’s shirts as his next business venture. Yolanda’s father would have been so proud of her and his grandchildren for their hard work and immense success.
Gigi Was the Captain of Her Volleyball Team
Before Gigi was a world-famous model, she was into competitive sports. She was a tomboy and played every sport. She was captain of her volleyball team in high school, but Yolanda wasn’t a fan. Yolanda has always supported her children, but she didn’t like volleyball.
On an episode of RHOBH, Yolando told Gigi that she had to decide between modeling and volleyball. Yolanda said, “These girls train four hours a day after school so their bodies are big and bulky, and they eat like men. I wanted Gigi to develop like a woman.”
Yolanda Has Faced Backlash
While she presents herself as the “world’s greatest mom,” Yolanda has faced backlash for her previous problematic comments caught on RHOBH. When Gigi was excited to eat her favorite food at her birthday party, Yolanda said she had to go back to her diet the next day.
Yolanda wouldn’t even let Gigi have a regular piece of cake at her party. She also said she thought Gigi was a lesbian because she only wore basketball jerseys as a kid. Yolanda’s comments haven’t aged well, and she can’t blame cultural differences this time.
Gigi Loves to Cook
With her busy career and balancing life as a new mom, Gigi still finds time to cook. She loves to spend a whole day in the kitchen whenever she has time. Gigi has become known for her special spicy penne vodka sauce that went viral.
She also gets in touch with her middle eastern roots by preparing dishes like curry. Gigi’s favorite cuisine is Italian, and she is a master in the kitchen. Hopefully, her next project will be a cookbook of all the dishes she has shared on her social media pages.
Anwar Is Into Natural Medicine
According to interviews, Anwar is a believer in natural medicines. Since he was diagnosed with Lyme disease, he has stayed on top of his health by taking supplements and getting all his vitamins and minerals. In particular, he likes to use green algae for its medical benefits.
The family is also into healing crystals. They have talked about the benefits of amethyst because it keeps them Zen. Bella said she makes sure her crystals are fully charged before she travels. Not everyone believes in this, but whatever makes them happy, right?
Anwar Calls Himself a “Mama’s Boy”
Some people might consider this a bad thing, but Anwar is proud to be a “mama’s boy.” He said that his mom is his biggest role model in life. They have been close throughout his life, and he always turns to her for advice.
Because he is the only boy in the Hadid family, Anwar said he is comfortable around women because he grew up in a house with only girls. This is sweet, but it doesn’t add much to the edgy image he has been trying to build.
How Tall Is Gigi Hadid?
Gigi is 5’10”, which is an average height for fashion models. Her mom thinks she was born to be a model, and we guess Yolanda was right. While modeling is her career, Gigi is more than a pretty face. She is also passionate about real-world causes.
After being harassed by a prankster, Gigi wrote a letter for Lena Dunham’s feminist newsletter Lenny. She opened up about the experience and talked about her thoughts on gender equality. Gigi has more to offer than modeling designs on a runway.
The “First Family” of Fashion
The Hadids have been through many ups and downs throughout their lives in and out of the spotlight. While the Hadid siblings continue to make themselves known in the fashion world, their mom remains the wealthiest person in the family with the highest net worth.
Yolanda is reportedly worth $45 million, Gigi is worth $29 million, Bella is worth $25 million, Mohamed is worth $5 million, and Anwar is worth $4 million. Their father might have been a billionaire at one point, but that is no longer the case.
