Victoria’s Secret Grants Gigi Hadid Dream Job As She Balances Family’s Lyme Disease With New Love Joe Jonas

Victoria’s Secret revealed Thursday, October 29, 2015, that it has hired Maybelline spokesperson Gigi Hadid to walk in the 2015 Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show airing on CBS December 8. Hadid, 20, who is in the middle of a blooming relationship with singer Joe Jonas, 25, was openly ecstatic about landing her dream job.

A Hollywood Life video posted on Thursday shows Hadid strutting for an audition in a black bra and panties when Victoria’s Secret chief marketing officer Ed Razek tells her that she has been hired for the fashion show. The announcement overwhelms her as she drops to her haunches and breaks into tears.

Victoria’s Secret’s new model, who has been dating American pop star Joe Jonas since her breakup with Australian singer-songwriter Cody Simpson in May, seems to be getting both her personal life and career on the right track after a string of traumatic experiences.

For over three years, Hadid’s mother Yolanda Foster, 51, younger sister Bella, 18, and youngest sibling Anwar, 16, have been battling Lyme disease. According to People, members of the same family could have Lyme disease, not because it’s genetic, but because they share the same environment, which could disturb gut bacteria giving rise to Lyme disease. If this condition affects one member of the family, other members can also be affected because they eat the same foods and experience similar stressors. Sufferers experience brain fog, headaches, muscle and joint pain, tingling and numbness, neck pain, sometimes palpitations, and anxiety or panic attacks.

Another traumatic experience haunting the Victoria’s Secret model occurred in November 2014 when she was attending the Melbourne Cup in Australia. Admire Rakti, the champion racehorse she posed with for a photo shoot, died after running last in the Melbourne Cup. As a horse-lover who rode jumpers and grew up around polo, she was devastated, posting her grief online along with her snapshot with the 7-year-old Japanese sprinter.

The new Victoria’s Secret model also went through an emotional upheaval during her split-up with Cody Simpson in May 2015. According to MTV News, their high-profile relationship was taking a toll on Simpson as well as Hadid, mentally and creatively, leading them to call it quits. Taylor Swift, 25, who had a prior relationship with Joe Jonas in 2008, reportedly commiserated with Hadid during a hike together at Franklin Canyon Park in Los Angeles, following the breakup announcement.

Taylor seems amenable to the idea of the Victoria’s Secret model dating Jonas, whose past romance with Swift has been subject to much tabloid speculation. Hollywood Life reports that Jonas was Taylor’s first love and they did not end on the best of terms. They severed their relationship seven years ago, and the experience reportedly left Swift heartbroken.

According to Hollywood Life, Hadid revealed what she does to keep in shape for the upcoming Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show. Aside from her workouts at New York’s Gotham Gym with former pro fighter Rob Piela, she has been attracted to sporting activities all her life, keeping her in reasonably good physical condition.

“I was a volleyball player for 12 years, I rode horses my whole life, and now I box every day…. Yeah, I think the biggest thing I always say is eat clean to stay fit, and then have a cheat day to stay sane. Boxing has been great for me because it’s like my new sport, and it’s something that I can get better at.”

Vanity Fair describes Hadid as having it “all” because she is one of the hottest models of the moment, she counts among her best friends Taylor Swift and Kendall Jenner, and she is dating pop celebrity Joe Jonas. The clincher for Hadid this year is being picked for Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show.

[Photo by Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty Images for H&M]