Gigi Hadid says she avoided being on 'The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills' when her mom Yolanda joined the show: 'It was weird for me'
- Gigi Hadid said it was "weird" for her when Yolanda Hadid joined the "RHOBH" cast in 2012.
- A high-school senior at the time, Gigi told InStyle that she avoided being on the reality show.
Gigi Hadid didn't grow up appearing on television, so the supermodel said it was a strange experience for her when her mother, Yolanda Hadid, joined the "Real Housewives of Beverly Hills" cast in 2012.
During a conversation with InStyle on Wednesday, the 26-year-old reflected on her upbringing, which was relatively normal despite having famous parents (luxury real-estate developer Mohamed Hadid and model Yolanda).
"When I think of my childhood, I think of the crazy, ecstatic volleyball player. I was that loud voice. I loved sports, I loved being on a team, I loved school and my friends. That's what comes naturally to me," she said.
Gigi was a senior at Malibu High School when Yolanda signed onto the Bravo reality series, a gig the Dutch model held onto for three seasons before departing the show in 2016.
As Yolanda began popping up on the "RHOBH" episodes, Gigi recalled people saying: "Oh, her mom was [Yolanda Hadid] on 'The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills.' That is her life."
However, the supermodel said the entire experience was foreign to her.
"That wasn't my life or a part of my growing up. My mom wasn't on TV until I was a senior in high school, so I was just on my way out of the house," Gigi, who studied criminal psychology at The New School in New York City before pursuing modeling full-time, explained.
She continued, "But it was weird for me. I would come home from school and there would be production trucks outside. I would scale the staircase to my room so I wouldn't have to go say hi to my mom in the kitchen."
InStyle's Laura Brown joked that Gigi probably arrived home from school to a "bunch of hot middle-aged ladies staring at each other," to which the model responded, "Yeah. You're just like, 'I'm going to go do homework.'"
The Hadid children did make several cameos on "RHOBH" episodes throughout their mother's tenure on the show. And when Yolanda went on to host a Lifetime reality series called "Making a Model" in 2018, both Gigi and Bella Hadid visited the show to support their mother.
In the years that have passed since Yolanda's reality-show days, Gigi has become a mother herself. In September 2020, she welcomed a daughter named Khai with singer Zayn Malik.
Over a year later, in October 2021, multiple outlets reported that the couple had broken up. The news came after a source told TMZ that Malik "struck" Yolanda the month prior. The singer, who denied the allegations, pleaded no contest after being charged with four counts of harassment. He was fined and put on probation for 360 days as part of the plea deal.
Malik addressed the situation on Twitter, saying he decided not to contest claims in the hopes of creating "a place where private family matters aren't thrown on the world stage for all to poke and pick apart" for his daughter.
A representative for Gigi told People that the model is "solely focused on the best for Khai" and requested privacy.