Hailey Got Real About How Hard Her First Year Of Marriage Was

If you thought their first year of marriage was a walk in the park, Hailey Baldwin’s quote about her first year of marriage to Justin Bieber is here to set the record straight. ICYMI: Bieber was privately battling Lyme disease throughout their first year of marriage. “In sickness and in health,” Baldwin mused during her March Elle cover story, published online on Feb. 5. “We went straight into figuring out the hard stuff. Because you never know what can happen with someone’s health. When you don’t know what’s happening, it’s really scary. And then you have the opinions of everybody from the outside, and it just sucks.”

Bieber's health issues ultimately lead to the couple's decision to postpone their formal wedding ceremony; the two legally tied the knot in a New York City courthouse in September 2018 and celebrated their nuptials with friends and family in September 2019.

“When we first got married, we were just figuring out our life together. I felt like putting a wedding in the middle of all of that would be really hectic and stressful," Baldwin explained. “He was really sick. He has Lyme disease, and he was dealing with a bunch of medical stuff. We didn’t have a diagnosis."

"And it was hard because everybody from the outside was being super mean and judgmental, saying he looked like he was on drugs, saying how unhealthy he looked, when in truth, he was not healthy and we didn’t know why," Baldwin continued. “It was months of me being a new wife trying to help him figure out what was wrong and what was going on. Now he’s perfectly healthy. But going through that and then trying to be like, ‘So where does our wedding fit into this?’ didn’t feel like the vibe at all.”

The first year of marriage wasn't the only bump in the road Baldwin and Bieber have faced. The couple, who first dated and broke up when Baldwin was 19, didn't get back together until years later. “There was a time when our lives seemed to be going in very different directions,” Baldwin said. “I actually think — now that I look back at it being married — that it was a good thing for the two of us, very healthy.”

“We ended up being at this church conference together in Miami, and it was the first time we’d seen each other in a while," she said of their reunion. "I remember we were hanging out and I was like, ‘Listen, I’m really, really happy for us to be friends again. I want us to always be cool and be friends.’ He was like, ‘Yeah, here’s the thing: We’re not going to be friends.’ And I was like, ‘Oh. Is that so?’"

From there, they were back on but Baldwin said the transition wasn't exactly seamless. "I think we were both a little unsure about what was going on in the very beginning," she continued. "It was familiar territory, but when a lot of time goes by, it’s like getting to know a new person.”

I just have to say I'm so happy Baldwin is making the conscious choice to be this honest about what married life is like. Relationships are never perfect! Here's to all of us having the courage to be this open about our highs and our lows.