Bella Hadid is finally ready to talk about her split from The Weeknd.
The 20-year-old model covers the latest issue of Teen Vogue, and talks about their breakup in November for the first time. Bella clearly still has warm feelings when it comes to her ex.
"I'll always respect him, and I'll always love him," she says of the 26-year-old "Starboy" singer. "Sometimes you want to be sad about it or handle it differently, but at the end of the day, you never want to burn a bridge that you've fought so hard to build."
As for her amazing run-in with The Weeknd just weeks after they announced their breakup at the Victoria's Secret Fashion Show in Paris, France -- when she strutted past him on the runway as he performed -- the beautiful brunette admits she wasn't as confident as she looked.
"It was my first breakup ... and so public," she explains. "As an outsider, you might think I handled it so well, but it's always in your heart, and you always feel it very heavily. It'll be hard for a while. Love hurts, but you have to pull through."
Bella briefly talks about her battle with Lyme disease in the new interview, specifically, how deeply it affected her when she had to give up her Olympic dreams of competing in equestrian events. She also had to part ways with her beloved horse, Lego.
"When I had to sell him, it was like a breakup!" she recalls. "I was really traumatized. You can ask any equestrian: You develop a crazy, emotional connection with this animal. When you're riding a horse, they have full control over you, and they can literally kill you in a second, so you build a trust with them."
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Bella is now single, although The Weeknd has since moved on with Selena Gomez. Selena, 24, and the "I Feel It Coming" singer were snapped at Hollywood hot spot 1Oak nightclub on Sunday night for Rihanna's GRAMMYs after-party, and were later spotted leaving in the same chauffeured vehicle.
Tellingly, Bella unfollowed Selena on Instagram last month, shortly after pictures surfaced of the former Disney star and the GRAMMY-winning singer kissing in Los Angeles.
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