A single-and-happy-to-be-so Justin Bieber was spotted getting close to his ex and recently-back-on friend Hailey Baldwin this weekend in Miami. The two attended Vous Church Conference, sitting together during the service. Bieber at one point had an arm wrapped around the back of her chair...and later, at LIV nightclub, he wrapped an arm around her. They're flirty gestures to say the least:
Baldwin and Bieber, of course, were close friends before dating briefly in early 2016.
They reportedly started talking again at the end of last year. TMZ reported in December that Bieber contacted Baldwin, trying to "clear the air" over their brief relationship and bad breakup, per sources "connected to" Bieber's church Hillsong. He told his then-girlfriend Selena Gomez he did that because he wanted to be transparent, and Gomez did not take the idea of Bieber and Baldwin talking well. Jelena ended up allegedly going to couple's therapy because of it. Bieber and Gomez's renewed relationship would last a couple months more, until early March, before they took a break-turned-breakup.
Baldwin, meanwhile, was rumored to be dating Shawn Mendes in May; the two attended the Met Gala together and were super coupley on the red carpet.
In a late-May interview with The Times UK, Baldwin made it clear they're just pals: "We hang out and he's super-lovely and a very, very nice young gentleman," she said. "But I am single. The dating pool is small. It's rare to find somebody that has the same ideas and morals as me. I have found people like that before, though, which is refreshing."
Baldwin also opened up in that interview about the effect her and Bieber's failed romance had on their friendship: "Justin and I were friends for a long time," she started. "I met him when I was really young and he was one of my best friends. Everybody knows that at a certain point in time that turned into something else, but that just happens when you’re 18, 19. It was what it was. We went through a long period of time when we weren’t friends. We didn’t speak for quite some time and there was a lot of weirdness that went on. We’ve moved past that."
Dating Bieber publicly was “weird. I’d never been through [a high-profile relationship] like that," she said. "But it brought both of us to the realization that we just work much better as friends. He’s somebody I really cherish. Now it’s a very mature situation. It’s good.”
Bieber and Baldwin's friendly PDA may be a temporary sight: a source told E! at the end of May that Bieber isn't focused on love right now. "He is in a really good place since splitting with Selena and is enjoying the single life. He has a lot coming up and is working on new music, and isn't focused on dating right now."
Alyssa Bailey is the senior news and strategy editor at ELLE.com, where she oversees coverage of celebrities and royals (particularly Meghan Markle and Kate Middleton). She previously held positions at InStyle and Cosmopolitan. When she's not working, she loves running around Central Park, making people take #ootd pics of her, and exploring New York City.
