Gigi and Bella Hadid’s secret half-sister admits she still feels like the ‘odd one out’

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Aydan Nix is sharing details about how she became close friends with supermodels Gigi and Bella Hadid, explaining how their friendship began when they first met.

In a personal essay for The Cut, Nix shared that she found Gigi and Bella Hadid to be ‘warm and generous’ after learning in 2023 they were her half-sisters, and they warmly welcomed her into their family.

Nix shared that her sisters and family have been incredibly kind and welcoming, going out of their way to make her feel included.

Nix, age 23, is the daughter of Terri Hatfield Dull and real estate developer Mohamed Hadid, who had a short-term relationship over twenty years ago.

Mohamed Hadid has six children: Gigi, 30, Bella, 29, and Anwar, 26, with his ex-wife Yolanda Hadid, and Marielle, 45, and Alana, 40, from a previous marriage.

You know, people always ask me about sibling bonds, and I’ve found that sometimes connection is instant, even if you haven’t grown up together. That’s definitely been my experience with my sisters – as soon as we reconnected, it felt like no time had passed at all.

She remembered that Anwar had playfully called her ‘baby sister’ when they first spoke on the phone, and Bella immediately started calling her ‘twin.’

‘My mom couldn’t even tell our voices apart when we first spoke to her on the phone,’ Nix wrote.

Gigi was very involved in helping her adjust to the family, sharing Palestinian food and traditions with her and encouraging her fashion career after she finished school at Parsons in New York.

Nix said Gigi introduced her to Palestinian food and helped her learn the names of the dishes. She also thanked her siblings for helping her discover a part of her family history she wasn’t previously aware of.

Nix appreciates her growing connection with Gigi and Bella Hadid, but she’s also shared that becoming part of the family later in life has brought some sadness along with it.

In her essay, she explained feeling different and excluded when thinking about memories she can’t share.

It just… it killed me seeing them. They had everything – all those little things that best friends share. No sleepovers, no family vacations together, not even something as simple as swapping clothes! They built this whole world of inside jokes and shared experiences, a lifetime of memories… and I wasn’t in it. I always felt like I was looking in from the outside, like the odd one out, and it honestly broke my heart.

It’s like, I just had to soak everything in, you know? I felt this desperate need to catch up on all the moments I’d missed with her family. I’d force myself to laugh even harder at their inside jokes, spend hours going through Bella’s things, just trying to find where I fit, trying to feel like I actually belonged in this family I suddenly discovered.

After news broke in May 2025 about her family connection to the Hadids, Nix noticed people online quickly turned her story into a fantasy, comparing it to the movie The Princess Diaries. It was as if finding her biological family magically changed her life for the better.

Instead, Nix stressed that her day-to-day reality barely changed.

She continues to live in a small apartment in New York City’s East Village. To make a living, she works as a freelance wardrobe assistant, has a part-time job at a vintage store, and gets around by bus or subway.

You know, it’s funny. I shared a quick TikTok on my commute – just a normal bus ride to work – and the comments were wild! People were so surprised, asking why someone like me – referencing my family – would be taking public transportation. It really highlighted how even with all the attention, my daily life is still pretty…normal. It’s a good reminder that even with a busy life, everyone still has to get to work somehow!

Nix explained that the unexpected public attention was emotionally draining. People she didn’t know were closely examining how she looked, questioning her reasons for doing things, and making guesses about her connection to Gigi and Bella.

After her sudden rise to popularity, people immediately started speculating about how she’d gotten there. Some accused her of seeking attention for personal gain, others claimed she was manufactured by the music industry, and still others believed she was simply riding on the coattails of her famous sisters.

She confessed the most painful part was how easily people forgot all she had achieved. She feared they’d now see every action and statement as simply an attempt to become popular. From a young age, she’d dreamed of a career in fashion, even applying to Parsons School of Design at just seventeen.

Although she misses the childhood she won’t have with Gigi and Bella, Nix emphasized that the relationships she’s forming now are incredibly important. She also explained that her sisters have helped her understand family in a whole new way.

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2025-12-31 18:04