14/08/2026
Bella Hadid Reflects on Her Muslim Heritage
American supermodel and actress Bella Hadid shared these reflections during a wide-ranging interview with GQ Magazine, discussing her upbringing and connection to her Palestinian-Muslim heritage.
After her parents, Palestinian real estate developer Mohamed Hadid and Dutch model Yolanda Hadid, divorced in 2000, Bella moved to Santa Barbara, California, with her mother at the age of four. Growing up in a predominantly white community, she said she often felt isolated as one of the few Arab girls around her and experienced racism during her teenage years.
Reflecting on her childhood, Hadid said one of her “bigger regrets” was not being raised around Muslim people or having the opportunity to experience Muslim culture on a daily basis:
«“I would have loved to grow up and be with my dad every day and studying and really being able to practice, just in general being able to live in a Muslim culture. But I wasn’t given that.”»
She said being disconnected from that part of her identity for so long left her feeling “really, really sad and lonely.”
Later, her guest role on the Hulu series Ramy, which centers on a first-generation Egyptian-American Muslim man, gave her an opportunity to reconnect with her faith, heritage, and spirituality while working alongside a predominantly Muslim and Arab cast and crew.
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