Ever since signing with IMG Models in 2011, Gigi Hadid's career has been on the rise. She has been the face of numerous modeling campaigns, like Guess, often bunks with Kendall Jenner and has already graced the pages of Sports Illustrated. That is quite a résumé for a 19-year-old, but life is not exactly perfect. Her mother, Real Housewives of Beverly Hills's Yolanda Foster, has been fighting an uphill battle with Lyme disease for the last three years and a recent relapse sent the family into crisis mode. Hadid opens up about her mom's illness and also talks about body image in the modeling world.
Hadid recently sat for an interview with E! and explained how she has tried to help her mom through the rough patches.
"You know it's hard, especially with something like Lyme disease, not a lot of people know about it, especially doctors, so they don't really know how to help, medical-wise. So it's really hard for me and my siblings to know how we could help, but I guess just being supportive is the best way we can do it," said Hadid.
The young model has often been praised for her approach to the industry she works in. She already has a pretty strong sense of self and does not seem too interested in conforming to the pressures that face all up-and-coming models.
"I've kinda had an easy time with the whole body-image thing, just because from the second I walked into IMG, I was like, 'This is what I wanna do with my career, but the one thing is that I'm not gonna lose a certain amount of weight. I'm not gonna be extremely skinny.' I just don't want to do that. I've always been an athlete. I've always had a certain body type that I've always been happy with and I didn't wanna let that go for a career," explained Hadid.
She said that when she was first starting out her mother told her never to live with other models because the competition is brutal. She credits her friendship with Jenner to the fact that they look nothing alike. If someone wants to book one of them, then there is really no competition because they look so different. It is always either-or and never both of them fighting for the same job.
What are your thoughts about Hadid? She is clearly hot right now, but do you think she will stick around for long? Tell us your thoughts in the comments section below.
