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When Beverly Hills housewife Yolanda Hadid became a popular figure on the show, it wasn’t for a good reason. Yolanda had just wrapped up a cosmetic procedure when her daughter, model Gigi Hadid, called to say, “I’m feeling really weak. I had, like, half an almond.” Yolanda’s response, which went viral, was, “Have a couple of almonds and chew them really well.” It led the public to lash out at the mom of three, claiming that she was insensitive.
Overall, Yolanda’s four seasons at “The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills” were erratic. As she shared with Entertainment Tonight, her castmates were dismissive of her Lyme disease diagnosis. When Yolanda was asked if she would consider having a comeback, her answer was crystal clear. “No, I wouldn’t,” she said. “It was an experience you take on, but at this point in my life, I couldn’t. I’m too sensitive. I couldn’t deal with that back-and-forth between women. It’s not my communication style or something that’s good for my life.”
The reality star further added that she would prefer a more women-positive platform. Yolanda has since tapped back into her roots as a model by venturing into talent management and hosting the show “Making a Model with Yolanda Hadid.” Keep scrolling to learn more about the former model and TV star.
Yolanda Hadid was broke when she first moved to New York
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Yolanda Hadid’s modeling career began in her mid-teens. It quickly took off, and she moved to New York. Her life when she started was far from the glamorous one she’s become accustomed to over the years. “I remember my mom gave me 100 guilders [the former Dutch currency], which was a lot of money for where I came from, and when I exchanged it, I think I ended up with like 55 dollars in my pocket,” Yolanda recalled in an interview with Money. The model eventually made enough to buy an apartment in Los Angeles, but it came at the cost of comfortable living: she’d watched and guarded her income like a hawk.
While a good chunk of her money came from working, Yolanda later got a settlement of $3.6 million when her first marriage to Mohamed Hadid ended in 2000. She kept some properties and cars and got a $40,000 monthly payout in spousal and child support for herself and their kids, Gigi, Bella, and Anwar. In the past, the reality TV star has made some big sales. In 2017, she reportedly sold her three-bedroom Beverly Hills apartment for $5 million and, once again, relocated to New York.
Her modeling days were much quieter than her daughters’
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Yolanda Hadid always had a hunch that Gigi Hadid was made for the runway, as she disclosed on “Larry King Now.” It wasn’t until Gigi and Bella Hadid turned 18 that she allowed them to kickstart their careers. The duo has been astonishingly successful and commands a staggering Instagram audience of 78.3 million and 60.8 million, respectively, as of April 2024. Between a massive social media following and constant attention from the press, the supermodels’ lives are more public than their mom’s was.
“My modeling career 40 years ago, when I started, is very different than today,” Yolanda recounted in her chat with Entertainment Tonight. “Because even when you’re famous, you know, I would go home at 5 o’clock, and nobody would talk about me or look for me, you know what I mean?”
The Hadid daughters’ fame has its perks, but it’s a double-edged sword. On one end, they have collaborated with big brand names such as Coca-Cola, Charlotte Tilbury, and Maybelline, all of which have added to their million-dollar net worths. On the other side, coping with stardom can be challenging. “At times, fame makes you feel out of control of your life,” Gigi said in an interview with Variety. “I think it’s tough.”
She struggled with suicidal thoughts following a Lyme disease diagnosis
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When Yolanda Hadid was first hit on and off by symptoms of Lyme disease, she paid little attention to the gravity of the situation. “You know … when this flu just hits you like a truck? Like joint pain, tired,flu-ish, coughing.” Hadid recalled in an interview with People. “I was in this crazy stage of my life where it’s just juggling a hundred things at once and just hard-headed pushing through whatever symptoms I had until one day it just knocked me out.”
It cost Hadid a fortune to find the exact combination of treatments that would alleviate her pain. Between supplements, chiropractor fees, ozone therapy, magnetic stimulation, setting up an in-house laboratory, and even stem-cell therapy, Hadid was projected to have spent a figure in the neighborhood of $150,000.
The disease took a toll on her body physically — leading to a lot of bed rest — but it also affected her mental health to the point of suicidal ideation. In her book, “Believe Me: My Battle with the Invisible Disability of Lyme Disease,” Hadid recounted self-harm thoughts she had during a visit to Florida: “God please just take me away in a wave. I can’t live like this one more day. Please carry my body away. I just want to disappear.”
If you or anyone you know is having suicidal thoughts, please call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-TALK (8255).
Her typical daily meal includes almonds
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Yolanda Hadid’s first post on TikTok was about almonds, the nuts that got her famous in the first place. In the since-deleted video footage, Yolanda seemingly made fun of the situation by eating almonds while doing a bunch of activities around her farm. Yolanda eventually explained why she gave Gigi the advice in her interview with Entertainment Tonight. “I carry almonds in my purse every day, not because I’m on a diet,” she told the outlet. “Because they level out my blood sugar.”
Almonds feature in Yolanda’s typical daily meal, as she shared with Harper’s Bazaar. Her days start with lemon water, followed by a bowl of oatmeal mixed with almonds, fruit, honey, and stevia. For lunch, she likes to make a salad. In between meals, Yolanda drinks a glass of goat milk. When dinner time comes around, she closes the day with a bowl of soup.
Although Yolanda’s meal plan is generally organic, she allows space for junk food. “You are what you eat,” She remarked. “But that doesn’t mean that in my household we don’t have pizzas flying around sometimes, or hamburgers.”
Her divorce from David Foster was unexpected
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In 2011, Yolanda Hadid and David Foster walked down the aisle. Hadid was getting hitched for a second time while Foster was in his fourth marriage. Four years later, the duo released a joint statement to People announcing their divorce. In a since-deleted Instagram post, Hadid wrote in part, “We are grateful for the years we’ve spent together and believe wholeheartedly that we did our best.”
At “The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills” Season 6 reunion, Hadid said she never saw the divorce from Foster looming, a fact that she recounted on “Watch What Happens Live With Andy Cohen,” saying, “I didn’t know until … November 15th. We already wrapped shooting.” Speaking on the phone during another episode of Andy Cohen’s show, Hadid disclosed that being diagnosed with Lyme disease may have put a strain on their relationship.
The reality television star is a proud grandma
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When Gigi Hadid and Zayn Malik were the youngest “It” couple, Yolanda Hadid fully supported the duo’s relationship. “It’s their journey. I’m here to support in whatever their journey is. And you know, they’re still young,” Yolanda told US Weekly. In September 2020, Gigi and Malik welcomed a little bundle of joy, Khai. A year later, Yolanda Hadid celebrated her granddaughter’s first birthday in a sentimental Instagram post.
That same year, Gigi and Malik reportedly called it quits. There were reports of a domestic altercation that occurred between Yolanda and Malik, which the former One Direction band member addressed on the “Call Her Daddy” podcast. Malik revealed that the situation — the specifics of which he chose not to delve into — was handled the best way he knew how, and his silence on the argument was a way of protecting his daughter.
Nevertheless, the relationship between Yolanda and her granddaughter, Khai, is one of love. In her chat with Entertainment Tonight, the proud grandma said of her then-two-year-old granddaughter, “I feel like … my mom came back in this little miniature, incredible little human being. Like, she does things [and] I’m like, ‘Oh my God! That’s my mom!”
She had the most awkward fan encounter at a retail store
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It’s not unusual for celebrities to come across fans as they go about their day. Sometimes, they refuse to interact with them; other times, stars just treat fans like trash. While those are shortcomings on the celebs’ part, fans also have negative traits of their own. In Yolanda Hadid’s case, she met fans at a very unlikely place, as she shared on “Larry King Now”: Being at the underwear section in the department store and people wanted to take pictures … just standing around, looking at bras and stuff and going like, ‘Can we take a picture?'”
While Yolanda’s experience may not have been too extreme, both her daughters have had obsessive fans who went too far. In 2015, 35-year-old Marcell Porter was apprehended for persistently showing up unannounced to Gigi Hadid’s apartment complex and harassing the supermodel on social media. He was given a three-year jail term two years later.
Gigi’s sister, Bella Hadid, had the same experience when 37-year-old Ryan S. Perez was taken into custody for creeping up on her, online and offline in 2018.
Yolanda Hadid bonded with Avril Lavigne over Lyme disease
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While most people were doubtful about Yolanda Hadid’s Lyme disease diagnosis due to its purported lack of visibility, her struggles with the illness were validated by other celebs who lived through the experience. In the mid-2010s, “Girlfriend” song sensation Avril Lavigne revealed she was suffering from the same ailment. Speaking to “Good Morning America,” Lavigne said her condition, which started with on-and-off flu-like symptoms just like Hadid’s, was misunderstood by high-ranking medical specialists and passed off as chronic fatigue syndrome or depression until she met a practitioner who dealt with Lyme disease.
Lavigne and Hadid struck up a friendship. “I took Avril under my wing when she first got sick and shared all I know,” Hadid told The Daily Dish. “I am so proud of her for going public and helping us bring awareness to this debilitating disease.”
Five years later, when Justin Bieber made his diagnosis with Lyme disease public, Lavigne contacted the “As Long as You Love Me” singer. “I just reached out like, ‘Yo, here for you if you need any advice. I can share my knowledge with you,'” Lavigne told Entertainment Tonight. “He was appreciative of that, but I think it seems like he is doing well. He put out new music and he had a tour, also.”
She’s not as high-maintenance as fans may think
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In her conversation with “Larry King Now,” Yolanda Hadid revealed that one of the biggest misconceptions about her is that she’s high maintenance. “I think that they think I’m much more fancy than I really [am],” Yolanda remarked. “Deep in my heart, I’m just a farm girl from Holland, and that’s where I feel happiest.” Yolanda is a farm owner with exquisite taste. In 2017, she was spotted with a luxury Hermes Birkin bag that doesn’t come cheap.
Her Pennsylvania farm — which boasts an astounding 32 acres — has been featured several times on her social media platforms. In 2022, Yolanda shared the process of honey harvesting on TikTok. She also posted a video of horses in their stable and even captured herself rescuing and releasing a fawn stuck in a fence. Her veggies made it to Instagram with the caption “Home Grown.” The large farm also features a flower passage planted by Yolanda’s supermodel daughters in 2020.
