Gigi Hadid offered InStyle a little look at her private life—in the kitchen, at least. The model shared rare details about her life at home with Khai, her and ex-boyfriend Zayn Malik’s two-year-old daughter, and what Taylor Swift is really like when she hosts a dinner party.
Hadid said she tries her best not to miss Swift’s dinner parties, because the singer is that good in the kitchen. “Taylor Swift is an exceptional cook, and I love her,” Hadid said. “She also makes a really good bolognese sauce and a really good chili that I love. So, I love to cook, but it’s also such a treat to get cooked for. And when you have friends that really also care about those special moments and the more intimate spaces and what can really come from putting an effort into making the time for that, I think that that’s when you start to find the friends that you really connect with, because you’re both working towards manifesting those really special moments.”
As for Khai’s culinary skills, turns out she’s already a budding sous-chef. “Every day, we’re cooking in the house together,” Hadid said. “Even if it’s just her and I, she will get up on her little step-up stool and help me mix, or we do banana bread. Especially in the winter, when I’m like, ‘Okay, what can we do that’s warm?’ It’s a lot of, ‘Okay, mash these bananas,’ and help her do the stuff that’s exciting to her. But she’ll get to a point where she’s like, ‘Okay, mama, you finish that. I’m going to do Play-Doh. I’ll sit over here in my highchair and do Play-Doh and you cook.’ But it’s still fun times together and we have the funniest conversations when it’s just me cooking and her doing some craft and I love even when it’s just us.”
Khai is the kind of toddler that will try different foods even if she ultimately doesn’t like them, Hadid said. “She’s only 2-and-a-half, but she’ll try stuff, but she’ll definitely tell me if it’s not for her, which I’m cool with. I’m like, ‘As long as you’re trying it, I’m proud.’ I try not to be too hard on myself as a mom and just try to make positive conversation around food.”
Senior News and Strategy Editor
Alyssa Bailey is the senior news and strategy editor at ELLE.com, where she oversees coverage of celebrities and royals (particularly Meghan Markle and Kate Middleton). She previously held positions at InStyle and Cosmopolitan. When she’s not working, she loves running around Central Park, making people take #ootd pics of her, and exploring New York City.
