Hailey Baldwin Reveals How She Coped When She Split From Justin Bieber: ‘It Feels Like Grieving’ 

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Justin Bieber and Hailey Baldwin are undoubtedly one of  Hollywood’s most solid couples. But, things weren’t always picture perfect. Before the “Yummy” singer, 26, proposed to the supermodel, 23, in July 2018, they went through a messy breakup in 2016 and spent time a significant time apart. — A situation Justin described as being “so painful.” The couple, who are quarantined together in his native Toronto, Canada, opened up about the tumultuous time in a new Facebook Watch series, The Biebers on Watch.

While filming on GoPro cameras during a canoe ride, Justin asked Hailey how she regained trust and confidence in him when “at the time there was so much hurt and so much pain.” Hailey explained that focusing on herself was what helped her through the breakup.

“I think that one thing that’s really important is that from the time you and I ended and were not on good terms, I was on my own essentially. I didn’t just throw myself into a relationship, throw myself into something else to try to … distract myself and forget,” she told her husband, who was filming behind the camera.

(Video credit: Facebook)

“I didn’t search for somebody to take your place and take another relationship or fill a void in that way. I really let myself feel the emotions I was feeling,” she said, explaining, “It feels like grieving, it is grieving actually. You feel like you lose someone you really, really love and care about. I just remember I cared about you so much that I was like, ‘It doesn’t even matter to me if he’s in my life, in like, a romantic way. I just care about him so much that I want us to be in each other’s lives and that be okay.'”

Hailey continued, “When I looked back on it, it was the best thing that we took time apart and had time to do our own thing. I felt like I found my footing in my career and on my own and as a young adult. I did a lot of work by myself and on my own before we got together.”

After taking time apart, Justin and Hailey rekindled their romance in the summer of 2018. “By the time we got back together, I felt like I experienced enough,” she recalled, explaining that met and hung out with “a lot of different people.”

“I had experienced other people where I was just like, ‘I’m cool if I never speak to another human again, another guy again.’ It didn’t matter to me. I felt like I knew what I wanted,”  Hailey admitted.

“Before we got together I had a lot of doubt, I didn’t even know what was happening in your life. I was a little confused … and once we started hanging out again, obviously we have a lot of mutual friends. They would tell me that you were really working on yourself and doing really well. They were really impressed with how you were living your life and trying to keep to yourself,” Hailey said, noting that Justing wasn’t “on any f— boy s— anymore.”

Justin also reflected on the 2016 split. He explained why forgiveness played a major role on both sides when they decided to get back together.

“Forgiveness too, there was a lot of forgiveness that you needed to have towards me. And vice versa. We both had made mistakes and I think when we understand how much God’s forgiven us and given us grace, it gives us the ability to give each other grace,” he said.

Hailey agreed and added, “Forgiveness is the biggest thing. You take a person with all of their mistakes, all of their faults, all of their decisions.”

Hailey and Justin went on to spend the entire summer of 2018 together. He proposed in front of a packed crowd at Baker’s Bay resort in the Bahamas with a massive diamond ring. Just over a year later, they wed in a secret courthouse ceremony in New York. In September 2019, Justin and Hailey tied the knot in front of their closest friends and family in a second, more formal ceremony in South Carolina.

The Biebers on Watch debuted on May 4 and will air new episodes every Monday, Wednesday and Friday on Facebook Watch. The 12-episode show will take place in and around their Toronto home, where they’ve been quarantining with Justin’s family amid the COVID-19 pandemic.