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Here’s What You Don’t Know About Bella And Gigi Hadid

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Two of fashion’s most photographed sisters have a backstory that has nothing to do with a runway.

Gigi and Bella Hadid show up on every Fashion Week front row and every Victoria’s Secret lineup, but the names on their birth certificates, the sports they trained in as kids, and the diagnoses they’ve had to manage in public rarely make the caption. A closer look at their upbringing, their health struggles, and the relationships that keep tabloids busy fills in a lot of blanks fans think they already know.

• Neither sister uses her actual first name professionally — Gigi was born Jelena Noura Hadid and picked up “Gigi” in school to avoid mix-ups with a classmate named Helena, while Bella was born Isabella Khair Hadid.
• Before modeling, Bella trained as a competitive equestrian with 2016 Olympic ambitions until health issues forced her out of the sport, and Gigi was studying criminal psychology at The New School after a run on her school’s varsity volleyball team.
• Both sisters manage serious chronic illnesses in public — Bella was diagnosed with Lyme disease in 2012 alongside mother Yolanda and brother Anwar, and Gigi revealed in 2016 that she has Hashimoto’s disease, an autoimmune thyroid disorder.

The Names and the Household Behind Them

Gigi and Bella grew up in Southern California as the daughters of Dutch model Yolanda Hadid and Palestinian-American real estate developer Mohamed Hadid, a pairing that gave both sisters a mixed heritage they’ve referenced repeatedly in interviews and on their own social feeds. Gigi’s legal name, Jelena Noura Hadid, got swapped for a nickname in grade school simply because another girl in class was already going by Helena. Bella’s full name, Isabella Khair Hadid, nods directly to that same Dutch-Palestinian mix that shaped how both sisters were raised.

Show Jumping, Criminal Psychology, and a Very Different Plan A

Modeling wasn’t the original plan for either sister. Bella spent her teenage years as a competitive equestrian chasing a spot in the 2016 Olympics before health complications derailed that goal entirely. Gigi, meanwhile, enrolled at The New School to study criminal psychology after a standout run on her high school’s varsity volleyball team — a far cry from the campaigns and cover shoots that would eventually define her career.

Health Battles They’ve Chosen to Discuss Openly

Bella was diagnosed with chronic Lyme disease in 2012, a diagnosis she shares with her mother Yolanda and brother Anwar, and she’s spoken about the fatigue and joint pain that came with it. Gigi went public in 2016 with her own diagnosis of Hashimoto’s disease, an autoimmune condition that disrupts thyroid function and metabolism — a disclosure that came directly in response to online criticism over her changing weight.

Two sisters, two separate autoimmune and chronic conditions, both disclosed publicly rather than left to tabloid speculation.

Marching in Protests and Making Headlines for Their Relationships

Both sisters have stepped into activism beyond the industry — they joined the January 2017 #NoBanNoWall demonstrations in New York City against the administration’s immigration executive orders. Their love lives have drawn just as much attention: Bella’s on-and-off relationship with R&B artist Abel Tesfaye, known as The Weeknd, started in 2015, while Gigi’s relationship with former One Direction member Zayn Malik began later that same year. Fans of high-profile celebrity pairings tend to track those relationship timelines the same way they track Megan Fox’s relationship history — closely, and with plenty of speculation in between.

Competing for the Same Campaigns Without the Rivalry

Gigi and Bella regularly walk the same shows and get pitched for the same high-profile campaigns, but both have been consistent in interviews about supporting rather than competing with each other. That dynamic separates them from plenty of famous siblings who turn out to be nothing like they seem once the cameras stop rolling — the Hadids’ sisterly act, by most accounts, holds up off the runway too.