Justin Bieber and Hailey Baldwin’s relationship is every fangirl’s dream.
They met in 2009, when she was just 12 years old, at a taping of the Today show. And while the two didn’t think much of the meeting their parents Stephen Baldwin and Pattie Mallette arranged, it would eventually lead to more encounters.
In addition to being a fan of Bieber, Baldwin was also a fan of his then-girlfriend Selena Gomez, whom he dated on-again, off-again from 2010 to 2018. Baldwin proved that she also supported their relationship on numerous occasions, once writing “Team Jelena” in a 2011 deleted tweet.
Later on, during one of his many breakups with Gomez, Bieber found himself romantically linked to Baldwin. In 2016, Bieber and Baldwin briefly tried their hand at a relationship. And while it didn’t stand the test of time, the pair rekindled their romance just two months after Bieber split from Gomez after a short reunion in 2018.
Baldwin and Bieber began dating again, got engaged, and exchanged vows at a New York City courthouse—all within a matter of months. Since tying the knot, they have overcome a handful of challenges, from health scares to reignited feuds with Gomez and rumors of Baldwin being a “homewrecker.” Here’s a complete timeline of Hailey Baldwin and Justin Bieber’s relationship, so far, and how they went from the Today show to the altar and beyond.
How Justin Bieber and Hailey Baldwin met
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Bieber and Baldwin were just kids when they met for the first time. They crossed paths initially during a brief (and awkward) meet and greet Hailey’s father Stephen Baldwin and Justin’s mother Pattie Mallette arranged backstage at the Today show. She was 12 years old at the time, while he was a 15-year-old pop star who was taking over the world.
In March 2020, Justin reflected on his initial encounter with his now-wife while appearing on The Ellen DeGeneres Show. “Looking back now, it was definitely an arrange[d] marriage, like they set this whole thing up,” he said. “Since she was raised Christian, it was like, ‘Oh, I want to introduce you to Justin and his mom. They have similar values and believe the same things. We think you guys would be good friends.’”
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Bieber was in a highly publicized on-again, off-again relationship with Gomez from 2010 to 2018. The same year that Gomez and Justin went public with their relationship, Baldwin tweeted her thoughts about the union, which fans had nicknamed “Jelena.”
“I don’t care what anyone says but Justin Bieber and Selena Gomez together is the definition of a teenage dream! #word,” she wrote in a since-deleted tweet in May 2011. She also tweeted, “I’m for sure 100% team #Jelena.”
Hailey and Justin pose for red carpet photos at his movie premiere
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Hailey and her dad attended the premiere of Bieber’s Never Say Never biopic in New York City in February 2011. There, she posed for red carpet photos with Bieber. At the time, Baldwin was 14 years old and Justin was 16.
Rumors about their relationship start to surface
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Justin and Hailey confirm their relationship
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Two months after spending New Year’s Eve together, Bieber spoke candidly about his relationship with the model in a GQ cover story. He said he was taking caution with Baldwin’s heart, recalling having “hurt people” in the past. “What if Hailey ends up being the girl I’m gonna marry, right? If I rush into anything, if I damage her, then it’s always gonna be damaged. It’s really hard to fix wounds like that. It’s so hard. … I just don’t want to hurt her,” he explained.
As for her, she echoed a similar sentiment during a conversation with E! News. She also revealed that they were “not an exclusive couple” because he was about to go on a tour.
Not long after the story was published, they split. Speaking about their breakup to Vogue in 2019, she said, “Negative things happened that we still need to talk about and work through.” She continued, “‘Fizzled’ would not be the right word. It was more like a very dramatic ex-communication. There was a period when if I walked into a room, he would walk out.”
Justin and Hailey get back together two months after the singer and Gomez split
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Bieber and Baldwin made their way to a courthouse in Manhattan wearing an all-white ensemble. One year after making their union legal, they hosted a grand wedding ceremony in South Carolina. The pair said “I do” again in front of 150 family members and friends.
The model marked the special day on Instagram, writing, “Last Monday was the most special day of my life.” She also shared a photo of her and Bieber on the big day. Baldwin’s eye-dropping veil had “Till Death Do Us Part” inscribed and was designed by the late Virgil Abloh.
Justin talks about his marriage with Hailey
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In the fourth episode of his Seasons docuseries on YouTube, the singer opened up about his marriage. He said, “To share my life with [Hailey] just makes it so much more rewarding.”
Baldwin confessed that he “was the first person I ever had real feelings for.” She added, “When things kind of went south for a little bit and we went our separate ways, I just knew that no matter what the outcome was going to be, he was going to be somebody that I loved for the rest of my life. No matter what, he was always going to hold a special place in my heart.”
Hailey isn’t ready for kids
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Baldwin said she was enjoying her solo time with her husband and didn’t think that kids would fit into the equation just yet. At the beginning of their marriage, the two hit a rough patch. He opened up about some of their troubles while speaking with Ebro Darden in May 2022.
“It’s a journey. I remember when I first got married, I hit a little bit of an emotional breakdown because I thought marriage was going to fix all my problems, and it didn’t,” he said. “You want your wife to do something that you’re not doing and it’s like, it’s hard sometimes to look in the mirror and really have to realize, ‘Man, maybe you’re not the person that you necessarily thought that you were.’ And that’s just a result of trauma and life circumstances.”
Two months after Bieber’s revelation, Baldwin opened up about similar challenges to Harper’s Bazaar. She said it “does take a lot of work to make it work. And then I know eventually, when kids come in the picture, that’s going to be a whole other season of navigating how to make that work.”
Hailey addresses the notion she “stole” Bieber from Gomez
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During an interview on the Call Her Daddy podcast, Hailey opened up to host Alex Cooper about the timeline of her and Bieber’s relationship. She said that she didn’t play a part in Bieber and Gomez’s breakup.
“When him and I ever started like hooking up or, like, anything of that sort, he was not ever in a relationship, ever at any point,” she said. “It’s not my character to mess with someone’s relationship. I would just never do that. I’m not interested in doing that and I never was.”
She acknowledged that the timeline might look questionable from the outside looking in, before reiterating that she did not break up a happy home. “I know for a fact that it was the right thing for them to close that door,” she said of Gomez and Bieber’s relationship.
Two months later, Gomez and Hailey posed for a sweet photo together at the second annual Academy Museum of Motion Pictures Gala in Los Angeles.
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For her Vogue Australia cover story where she was interviewed by her husband, Baldwin gushed about their marriage. “My favorite thing about being married is honestly the companionship I feel we have,” she said. “Genuinely, you are my best friend in the entire world. There’s nobody I would rather spend more time with or do anything with.”
The story arrived a few days before his 29th birthday. In a sweet tribute posted on March 1, she once again called him her best friend.
