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Gigi Hadid: How My Mom Shaped My Career

Yolanda's daughter also opens up about her relationship with Justin Bieber.

By Jocelyn Vena Jul 30, 2014, 2:11 PM ET

Gigi Hadid may have gotten an early start on her modeling career, but the 19-year-old shared that her mother, Real Housewives of Beverly Hills star Yolanda Foster was anything but a stage mom while she was growing up.

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"I was always in front of the camera," she tells Women's Wear Daily. "My mom was really passionate about photography—I have pictures of my whole life. I've always just been in front of my mom's camera and it's always comfortable to me.

"The first two years I was always on set with my mom. When I was young, I did Baby Guess and Guess Kids—Paul Marciano saw me when I was a baby and decided I was going to be his next whatever. After Guess Kids, my mom made me stop," she admits. "She would not let me sign with an agency until I was 17 because she wanted me to be a normal kid and accept myself for who I was. She knew the industry was going to judge me."

While her mom has helped guide her in the crazy world of modeling, she also finds support from her A-list pals.

"I have my hometown friends, but I have my industry friends and I have some who are in the middle, like Ireland Baldwin, which is great because she is genuinely one of my best friends," she says. "When we're in L.A. we go to movies and hang out, but when she's here it's Fashion Week and we go to all the events together. Those are the friends I am closest with because they understand both sides of me and that's what I really cherish in people. I keep my hometown friends close. It's funny because Kylie [Jenner] dated my ex-boyfriend [singer Cody Simpson]. Before that, in L.A. we grew up knowing about each other but never met. Kendall [Jenner] and Kylie and I became friends the week before this year's Met gala. I went to Rihanna's party and stuff afterwards but didn't go [to the gala]."

When she isn't hanging with the Jenner sisters or doing the "best Kourtney Kardashian voice ever," she's hit the road with Justin Bieber.

"Justin's a good friend of mine, he's awesome. I met him in Cannes. Wait, that's a lie. We know each other through my ex-boyfriend, who is also signed to Scooter Braun and they toured together. That's Cody Simpson.

"I was on the Bieber tour for two weeks. It was crazy but so fun. I'm like one of the guys on tour, on a bus with 10 dudes. It's gross," she says. "You have to get used to not showering. They're like, 'How do you look so glam?' I'm like, 'Dry shampoo.' So I met [Bieber] a couple of times but we're friends and everything with my ex-boyfriend is cool, and him and Justin are really close. So it's all good. You run into all your friends at Cannes and you end up at the same parties. In that case you just end up both watching the Grand Prix race from the same boat. That's how we ended up together."

Of course, their friendship has sparked some speculation that they have dated, which she denies.

"I want to go off on people on Twitter so much," she says. "There's this one picture of a girl hugging Justin and everyone says it's me but it's not me—she has brown hair and she's wearing bracelets. I wasn't wearing any accessories."

She also has some words for anyone who questions her on-again, off-again relationship with Simpson.

"I love Cody to death and he loves me," she says. "And he needed his time to focus on his music and he's the one who broke up with me. We're still best friends and I'll always respect him and support his career. But it's really hurtful when people try to do that. The most hurtful thing to me is when people try to put assumptions on me and my relationship because that is not OK. Love is something that's really serious and private that you can't try to claim or know."