Justin and Hailey Bieber's marriage in 2019 was surrounded by rumours of the pop star cheating on Selena Gomez. Photo / Getty Images
Hailey Bieber has addressed cheating rumours relating to husband Justin Bieber and his "very public" relationship with ex-girlfriend Selena Gomez, in a rare long interview.
On Wednesday Bieber set the record straight about details of the initial months of her relationship and marriage to singer Bieber.
In an hour long sit down interview for Alex Cooper's Call Her Daddy podcast, the model and skincare brand owner, responded to claims suggesting she was a "homewrecker" who "stole" the pop icon from Gomez after the two reportedly broke up an on-again-off-again relationship in 2018, following a long history together since 2010.
While neither Bieber nor Cooper explicitly named Gomez, there is enough information in the episode to assume some conversation is about the singer, actress and childstar.
"It's about people knowing the truth, because there's a truth," Bieber said
"There is a lot I have avoided speaking on for a long time.
"This is so crazy, I have never talked about this ever."
When asked whether or not she had a romantic relationship with her now husband, Bieber, at the time he was with his former partner, the 25-year-old answered plain and simple to put rumours to bed.
"It's not my character to mess with someone's relationship – I would just never do that. I was raised better than that. I'm not interested in doing that and I never was."
"Period, point, blank."
Bieber then went on to explain how rumours surrounding the couples "young" engagement in July of 2018 and marriage in September of 2019, were fuelled by a lack of public knowledge about the timeline of the romance and "what was going on" before they officially got back together.
"The only people who know the truth of what went down are me and him," she said to Cooper.
"I understand how it looks from the outside.
"We were really young, when we got engaged I was 21, he was 24. I personally thought I wouldn't be getting married that young.
When asked to share information about the timeline specifically and her thoughts on her husband's final split from Gomez, Bieber said: "It closed a chapter and I think it was the best thing that could have happened for him to move on."
"It was the most healthy, mature decision he could make," she said.
"I know the reason we were able to get back together was because it was completely closed."
The daughter of actor Stephen Baldwin revealed she had spoken with Gomez since the wedding saying "there is no drama personally", and that the discussion had brought her "a lot of peace".
The Rhode Skin founder also opened up about the "numbness" she felt, particularly at the time of her marriage when she received constant backlash and "bullying" online from social media users and fans of Gomez.
"I hate comparison," she said.
"A lot of the hate and perpetuation comes from 'oh you stole him.'
"When people make up stories about me online, that's not the truth.
"They wished he ended up with someone else.
"I think it's sad to be against somebody's happiness."