The honeymoon phase didn’t kick in for Hailey Bieber immediately after marrying Justin Bieber. The 28-year-old once shared how she felt so much “guilt” and “shame” in the early days of their marriage. But not for saying “I do.” Rather, for every “bad decision” up to that point.  

Justin and Hailey have been married since 2018

On Sept. 13, 2018, Hailey, the daughter of actor Stephen Baldwin, wed the “Peaches” singer in a no-frills New York City courthouse ceremony. They were 21—almost 22—and 24, respectively. It came after a two-month engagement and a rekindling of their romance earlier that year. Before that, they’d spent almost two years apart. 

A year later, in September 2018, the Canadian native and model-turned-beauty brand founder went all out with a lavish ceremony in South Carolina. It cost about $500,000, according to a Forbes estimate. (YouTube filmed much of the wedding festivities in a documentary about Justin, seen above.) 

Today, Justin and Hailey live in Beverly Hills, Calif., and are parents to their 7-month-old son, Jack Blues Bieber. 

Hailey felt ‘guilty’ about not entering their marriage with a ‘clean slate’

Hailey confessed to feeling “guilty” for months after saying “I do” in a May 2020 interview on the Hillsong Church’s YouTube channel (via Us Magazine). But not for marrying Justin. No, for every “mistake” and “bad decision” that had come before. 

“What I learned being married is that every mistake that I made and bad decision that I made and everything that I was making myself feel guilty for led to me being married and me being a wife,” Hailey said. 

“But I think in the beginning,” she continued, “especially for the first six or seven months of being married, I was just ridden with guilt. I wish I hadn’t done this. I wish I had just walked into this clean and free and clean slate.” 

“What it taught me,” Hailey explained, “is that it’s just A, not realistic. And B, we all have guilt and we all shame for things we’ve done, but it doesn’t have to define who we are. And it didn’t have to define me in my relationship.”

Hailey Bieber on marriage to Justin taking ‘work’

Shortly after telling Harper’s Bazaar in a 2022 cover story that it “take[s] a lot of work to make it work,” in reference to her and Justin’s marriage, the Rhode founder clarified her comment on the “Call Her Daddy” podcast. 

“What I mean when I said ‘hard work’ is just, like, there’s compromise [and] there’s sacrifices,” Hailey told host Alex Cooper. “I feel that way in most relationships in my life. Even friendships, even work relationships, like, they can be tough.” 

“I didn’t mean it just overall,” she continued, calling their marriage “the best thing ever” and explaining why it requires work. “It takes work because I’m 25 years old and I have a life and I have a career,” she said. “I have my own friends. So [I’m] trying to balance making my wants and needs and hopes and dreams work while meshing my life with another human who has his hopes and dreams and career.” 

“We’re busy people, and we want to be in a marriage, so we’re making it work, and sometimes it’s hard,” she added.