Why Hailey Bieber Had To Give Up Her Ballet Career

Even though we know model Hailey Bieber as the wife of pop superstar Justin Bieber, she — of course —–had an illustrious life when she was still Hailey Baldwin. Being a member of the famous yet infamous Baldwin family, most would expect that Hailey grew up in that pompous, Hollywood lifestyle. But – as the daughter of actor Stephen Baldwin and graphic designer Kennya Baldwin – Hailey insists that her upbringing was pretty ordinary.

"I'm lucky that I was raised so normally in a suburban town," Hailey told Glamour in 2016. "If I didn't have that normal childhood before I started doing this, I don't know — I think things would be different.... I don't see myself as famous, I see myself as a normal person with a job that is not very normal."

In fact, many people don't know that before she was a model, Hailey actually had a career as a ballerina.

If you couldn't tell by her posture or her overall gracefulness, Hailey Bieber trained as a dancer for years at the prestigious American Ballet Theatre School, per Elle. Her husband, Justin Bieber, once shared an adorable home video of little Hailey in a production of the Nutcracker. Another video Hailey posted in 2016 showed the ballerina's performances when she was older, full of impressive turns and graceful movements on pointe.

But Hailey revealed to Vogue Australia in 2019 that she had to determine whether or not to continue her dance career when she was 17, attending the Miami City Ballet summer program at the time. "I had to decide if I was going to stay there and train for the rest of high school or if I was going to go back to New York and try to make it as a model instead," Hailey explained. "As a dancer, I got hurt a lot, and I didn't know if I was going to be good enough to make it into the company when I was done ... I finally said to myself: 'You know what? I don't feel like you're a prodigy at this.'"

Sadly, Hailey said she had to be "realistic," since she knew it would be tough to make it as a professional dancer. But Hailey's decision to model definitely ended up panning out wonderfully for the future runway walker.

Even though she loved ballet, Hailey Bieber also knew that she wanted to pursue modeling. Bieber began runway modeling in 2014 after she was signed by Ford Models, and she went on to do several campaigns, even becoming "the face" of the fashion brand Guess in 2017, per Billboard. But the model actually credits much of her success to her years in dance class.

"Having done ballet for 12 years, I have that muscle memory," Bieber told Harper's Bazaar in 2021. "It plays a big part in my body type and in my athleticism. It's kept my body healthy, and mentally it taught me how to be committed to something. Everything I learned from being a dancer still contributes to who I am today. I'm so grateful I did it, and I miss it. I have such a deep love for dancers."

It makes sense, the more control of your body you have, the better model you are. In 2021, Bieber said to V Magazine that "watching ballet has totally shaped how [she sees and feels] movement." After all, even football players are recommended to take ballet classes!