Why Gigi Hadid and Bradley Cooper's relationship makes total sense.

Gigi Hadid and Bradley Cooper are in their dating era and they don't care who knows it.

While they're said to have been an item since October 2023, they've been keeping things on the down low — that is, until a few weeks ago, when they were photographed spending a lot of time together in New York City. 

As we know, celebrities who want to stay under the radar can go to extreme lengths to remain incognito, so the fact Cooper and Hadid have decided to spend time together in public suggests things may have moved from 'let's get to know each other' to 'let's share our Netflix account'. 

And we love to see it.

The beginning of something special.

Whenever we hear about of a rumoured 'new couple' in the celebrity world, we're cautious to take things with a grain of salt. But in the case of Hadid and Cooper, the whispers of a relationship quietly developing away from the spotlight really did turn out to be the real deal.

On October 5, 2023, Daily Mail first reported Hadid, 28, and Cooper, 49, had been out to dinner at celeb hotspot Via Carota in New York. Apparently they dined together before heading off into the night in the same car. Just days later, Page Six ran photos of the pair reportedly returning to the city after a weekend away. Later that month, things seemed to be progressing when they were photographed walking in the rain together.

Their dates began to get more frequent, with Cooper and Hadid seeing the off-broadway show Danny and the Deep Blue Sea at Lucille Lortel Theater in the West Village on November 1, 2023. Then a few days later on November 4, Hadid invited Cooper into the Taylor Swift Girl Squad fold. After a night out with the girls (including Swift, Selena Gomez and Sophie Turner), Hadid had Cooper in tow as they all left swanky private club, Zero Bond.

It's at this point a source told Entertainment Tonight that the couple were "smitten" with each other and had "bonded over their passion for working, their families and, most importantly, being a parent". The source went on to say that both Hadid and Cooper were enjoying being in a relationship that is "genuine and hardly requires any effort".

Now, in the real world, when you've been dating someone for a couple of months, you might, for example, share a subtle soft launch of your new partner on socials. But celebs do things on a different level, and on December 6, Hadid's lifestyle clothing label, Guest In Residence, used a paparazzi picture of Cooper wearing a plaid shirt from the range on their Instagram stories to help spruik sales. 

Smart marketing.

Bradley Cooper in a Guest In Residence shirt. Image: Instagram @guestinresidence.

And if using your rumoured new boyfriend as an unofficial model for your clothing brand doesn't signal 'things-are-getting-serious' vibes? Perhaps the fact that Cooper went and bought property close to where Hadid and her family have a home will.

At the beginning of 2024, these two showed no signs of slowing down with Hadid joining Cooper as he headed to London to promote his latest film, Maestro. It's here in London they were photographed holding hands, in a rare show of public affection; and in February, after the pair were spotted out together in New York City again, a source declared to Entertainment Tonight: "Gigi and Bradley are in love."

Who were they dating previously?

Both Hadid and Cooper have been in very public relationships in the past, however they didn't work out.

Cooper began dating Russian model Irina Shayk in 2015, and the pair welcomed a daughter two years later, naming her Lea de Seine. After two more years together, they ended their relationship — although it appears it was an amicable split and they have kept things civil, co-parenting successfully. They've even been known to go on family holidays together since their split in 2019.

Bradley Cooper and Irina Shayk, 2019. Image: Getty.

Hadid, meanwhile, has been casually dating since splitting from singer Zayn Malik — who is the father of her daughter, Khai. Hadid and Malik first began dating in 2015 and had an on-off relationship right up until they became parents in 2020. In October 2021, they hit a rocky patch after an alleged physical altercation occurred between Malik and Hadid's mother, Yolanda. This marked the end of their romantic relationship and the beginning of a new era of co-parenting.

Gigi Hadid and Zayn Malik attending the 2016 Met Gala. Image: Getty.

In 2022, Hadid was linked to Oscar-winning actor Leonardo DiCaprio, but while this couple set a lot of tongues wagging, they were over by the beginning of 2023.

Single parents bonding.

When you think of Gigi Hadid and Bradley Cooper, on first glance, they might not seem like an obvious love match. But when you consider their place in the entertainment industry and their personal situations as single parents, it looks like they might have a bit more in common than we first thought.

For starters they're both A-listers — not that ranking highly on a google search mean they'd immediately fall in love, but it does go a long way in helping each other understand both their work and lifestyle. 

Cooper has been a fixture in Hollywood ever since making his screen debut in 1999 in Sex and the City before turning his bit-part status into leading man energy. You likely first caught a glimpse of the now-49-year-old when he starred in The Hangover, which made him a household name and opened up roles like the critically acclaimed Silver Linings Playbook with Jennifer Lawrence and A Star Is Born with Lady Gaga (on which he also served as producer, director and writer).

Hadid, on the other hand, was born into a life in the limelight with her famous parents giving her a Nepo Baby leg up from the jump. With her father Mohammed Hadid (prolific and high-profile property developer to the stars) and Yolanda Hadid (renowned international model) helping guide her career, it was only a matter of time before their connections and her sensational genes parlayed into a modelling debut. 

At just two years old, Hadid stared in her very first campaign for Baby Guess — and now, she is now one of the most in-demand models in the world, having walked all of the major catwalks, fronted high fashion campaigns and graced the covers of all the top publications. 

Oh, and she's also the host of Netflix's reality TV series Next in Fashion.

While Cooper and Hadid aren't in the same line of work, they've most likely been running in similar circles for many years now, and know many of the same people — which seems to be how they met. A source told Us Weekly they met through a mutual friend, and an insider also told PEOPLE that Hadid has "had sort of a crush on [Cooper] for a while" so perhaps there was some secret squirrel matchmaking at play too.

In fact, that 'mutual friend' may just have been Cooper's ex (and Hadid's fellow model) Irina Shayk.

"Gigi was introduced to Bradley through Irina and their mutual friends in the industry," a source told The Messenger. 

"Gigi and Irina have been close over the years while working together, and Gigi and Bradley have hung out before, but it has always been friendly in social settings. Gigi and Bradley were in touch recently, and were bonding over their daughters, when Bradley asked her out."

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Gigi Hadid (@gigihadid)

There is also something to be said for the pair's personal lives and the fact that they're both single parents to little girls — Hadid's daughter Khai, three, and Cooper's daughter Lea, six.

"They have a lot in common," a source told Us Weekly. "They're both single parents to a young daughter, and they share a similar sense of humour."

With all of that said they also just seem... kinda great together? And we love that.

Feature Image: Getty.