Gigi and Bella Hadid are so welcoming to their secret half-sister!
As we previously reported, the Hadid sisters were in for a huge shock when they found out 23-year-old Aydan Nix was their half-sister. Their dad, Mohamed Hadid, had a short lived relationship with Terri Hatfield Dull after he divorced from Yolanda Hadid, which resulted in Aydan! The Hadid patriarch always knew of his child with Terri, but the Hadid siblings didn’t find out the news until Aydan took a DNA test and it matched her up with them earlier this year.
Since then, the model sisters have been spotted hanging out with Aydan — and now she’s giving us the inside scoop as to what it’s been like! In an essay she wrote for The Cut, which was published on Tuesday, she spilled:
“My sisters (along with the rest of the family) have been nothing but warm and generous. They have made space for me in ways they didn’t have to.”
Aww!
Of course, Aydan didn’t just gain Gigi and Bella as half-siblings. She also got Mohamed and Yolanda’s son Anwar Hadid, 25. Their dad also shares daughters Marielle, 44, and Alana Hadid, 39, with his first wife, Mary Butler. So it’s good to hear the whole fam is so welcoming!
She continued, gushing about some wholesome family moments:
“Anwar called me his baby sister the first time we ever spoke on the phone. Bella calls me her twin. My mom couldn’t even tell our voices apart when we first spoke to her on the phone.”
Related: Bella Shares Eye-Opening New Posts On ‘Medical Anxiety’ Amid Lyme Disease Battle
So stinkin’ sweet! Her newfound family has also helped her connect with her Palestinian roots:
“Alana sent me resources and inspired me to become active in the fight for Palestine’s freedom. I watched Anwar’s film Walled Off. Gigi took me for my first Palestinian meal and taught me the names of different dishes.”
More perks of having model sisters? They’re giving her a leg-up on her fashion dreams:
“Gigi introduced me to her friend Gabriella Karefa Johnson, whom I had admired not only for her styling but for her strong convictions and values. I started assisting her when times were especially busy. My first day on set was a Victoria’s Secret campaign. I worked 17 hours that day. I was exhausted, but I had never in my life felt more fulfilled. I felt like I had finally found the thing that I was supposed to do.”
Despite all the new fun, though, Aydan admits she still feels some “insecurity” about not getting those precious, early sibling moments:
“No sleepovers, no shared holidays, no borrowing clothes, no inside jokes, no stories woven together. They had a lifetime of memories, and I felt like the odd one out.”
Aww…
She explained how her sudden rise in the public eye hasn’t exactly been easy, either:
Overnight, anyone, from anywhere in the world, could weigh in on my face, my body, my family, my worth. They had access to tell me exactly which alterations they thought I should (or shouldn’t) make to my appearance … [People] expected my life to change and become glamorous, jet-setting around, with an endless bank account.”
She says her life hasn’t changed that much since the jaw-dropping discovery, though. She’s still got her job as a cashier and a freelance wardrobe stylist in NYC.
It’s so sweet to hear how the Hadids are welcoming her with open arms. Reactions, Perezcious readers?
[Image via Aydan Nix/Instagram/WENN/Avalon]
