Bella Hadid recently discussed her experience with unhealthy relationships on "VS Voices."- The model said both men and women have previously abused her, leading her to abandon her boundaries.
Bella Hadid said that numerous unhealthy relationships in her life caused her to become a "people-pleaser" and abandon her boundaries, both personal and professional.
The supermodel, 25, had a candid conversation with host Amanda de Cadenet on a recent episode of Victoria's Secret's "VS Voices" podcast about her relationships, some of which, she said, were abusive.
"I constantly went back to men, and also women, that had abused me and that's where the people-pleasing came in. I started not having boundaries, not only sexually, physically, emotionally, but then it went into my workspace," Hadid shared.
The model said she "didn't want to associate with any people," including her friends and family. Instead, she became a "people-pleaser" in her professional life, retroactively recognizing that she was "putting my worth into the hands of everyone else."
"There was no substance to me because I had given all that I had to my career and the people in my life and the people in my career who essentially couldn't fix anything for me," she said, adding, "I realized I had to fix that for myself."
Hadid, the middle child of real estate developer Mohamed Hadid and "The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills" star Yolanda Hadid, has previously coined herself as the "black sheep" of her famous family, which also includes siblings Gigi Hadid and Anwar Hadid.
In her interview with de Cadenet, the model said she felt like her voice was "never heard" when she was growing up.
"I grew up around men, whether that was in relationships or family or whatever that was, where I was constantly told that my voice was less important than their voice," she said.
As Hadid transitioned into adulthood, the model said she lacked the necessary tools to stand up for herself in relationships. "My nervous system would crash. It was like fight or flight. Either I would become silent and cry and just go inward, or I would lash out and leave," she explained.
Now, the model said she's learned to "open up and speak my mind, especially within my relationships and within my family," incorporating therapy, limited screentime, meditation, and physical exercise to preserve her mental health.
And in 2021, Hadid quit drinking alcohol after a controversial doctor conducted scans showing alcohol's effects on her brain. The model, who is also a cofounder and partner of the non-alcoholic beverage Kin Euphorics, told InStyle Magazine that the results made it "a lot harder to pick up the glass."