Of all the things that drove newlyweds Justin Bieber and Hailey Baldwin down the aisle after a mere few months of dating, who would’ve thought one of the reasons would, in fact, be the most obvious? Sex.
The couple of the moment cover Vogue’s March issue for their first joint interview and candidly discuss their whirlwind romance, which has captured international attention, likely infuriated Selena Gomez and taught everybody it’s more than OK to cry in public.
The two tied the knot in a New York City courthouse in September, though Baldwin later denied the deed. They reportedly plan to throw a “real wedding” in the coming months.
While they’ve known each other for nearly a decade ― and previously dated for a short while ― they apparently remained celibate in the current telling of the relationship, with Bieber admitting that “a desire finally to have sex was one reason they sped to the courthouse.”
When Bieber and Baldwin reconnected after their rift in June (“There was a period where if I walked into a room, he would walk out,” Baldwin said), Bieber said he was more than a year deep into his celibacy journey.
The “Purpose” singer explained that he had “a legitimate problem with sex” and abstained from pleasures of the flesh to feel closer to God. Baldwin and Bieber both are big followers of the Australian megachurch Hillsong.
God “doesn’t ask us not to have sex for him because he wants rules and stuff,” Bieber told the magazine. “He’s like, I’m trying to protect you from hurt and pain. I think sex can cause a lot of pain. Sometimes people have sex because they don’t feel good enough. Because they lack self-worth. Women do that, and guys do that. I wanted to rededicate myself to God in that way because I really felt it was better for the condition of my soul. And I believe that God blessed me with Hailey as a result.”
Ultimately, however, consummating their relationship wasn’t the sole reason Bieber popped the question.
“When I saw her last June, I just forgot how much I loved her and how much I missed her and how much of a positive impact she made on my life. I was like, Holy cow, this is what I’ve been looking for,” he explained.
The revealing profile also touches on Bieber’s mental health struggles as of late, and how Baldwin has been a stabilizing force in his sometimes chaotic life.
Bieber, who’s stayed mostly quiet on the music front since his 2015 album “Purpose,” said he “got really depressed” at the end of his last tour, which prompted him to scrap the last 14 stops and pause his music career.
“I haven’t talked about this, and I’m still processing so much stuff that I haven’t talked about. I was lonely. I needed some time,” Bieber said, adding that he abused Xanax during this dark period.
He added:
“I’m the emotionally unstable one. I struggle with finding peace. I just feel like I care so much and I want things to be so good and I want people to like me. Hailey’s very logical and structured, which I need. I’ve always wanted security ― with my dad being gone sometimes when I was a kid, with being on the road. With the lifestyle I live, everything is so uncertain. I need one thing that’s certain. And that ... is my baby boo.”
To read Bieber and Baldwin’s full profile, head over to Vogue.