Gigi Hadid’s irrational fear: ‘I just won’t shower with the toilet open’

Cenotaph Remembrance Parade

Gigi Hadid covers the holiday issue of W Magazine, and I was struggling to figure out who she reminds me of in this shoot. W Mag aimed to style her like “Debbie Harry, circa 1975.” But I feel like the reality of it is different – never before have I seen some “early Kate Moss” in Gigi, but here we are. I guess I never realized how she really can do the chameleon thing. Anyway, you can read Gigi’s cover profile here, and here are some highlights:

Whether she would ever want to be invisible: “Something that I think about a lot is that I kind of took anonymity for granted. When I first moved to New York, I loved walking down the street. Now when I do that, I wish I could be invisible. Sometimes, I think about wearing wigs, but I don’t want to be seen in a pink wig and for people to be like, Oh, my God, she’s going insane! So I stay in my house.

The posters she had on her walls when she was growing up: “I was a rider, so I loved Olympic horses. I had horses on my wall. When I was a kid, I listened to Josh Groban, Michael Bublé, and Andrea Bocelli, but I don’t think I had posters of them. I did have a Kobe Bryant poster. And I think I had a Kobe trash can, too.” Years later, at a Taylor Swift show in L.A., Gigi finally saw Kobe in person. “Taylor was like, ‘Go over. Say hi,’ ” Gigi recalled. “And I couldn’t. Kobe Bryant is one of the only people who make me starstruck.”

Her favorite holiday memory? “Being in the kitchen cooking with my family. We all like to prepare a different dish, and I always do a crazy dessert buffet where I make trains out of candy and little snowman cupcakes”

She likes cooking & baking: “I like both. My favorite thing with cooking is to always try to make something new. I will ask my boyfriend Zayn Malik, “What do you want today?” and I’m pretty good at pulling it off. On my days off, cooking is something that keeps my mind going without having to think of too many serious things.

Whether she has any irrational fears: “I’m cool with spiders and heights and clowns. But I don’t like getting out of the shower and for the toilet seat to be open. I’m like, I have water on me, and the toilet has water in it, and I just won’t shower with the toilet open. I guarantee now you’re going to look at the toilet and it’s going to make you feel weird if it’s open while you shower.

The criminal mind: “At the movies or on TV, I can always figure out the murderer. I studied criminal psychology in school, and people know that all my favorite TV shows are that kind of psychological puzzle, usually involving a murder.

[From W Magazine]

I’m obsessed with her weird fear. I’m also okay with spiders – I don’t like snakes that much though – and I think clowns are creepy, but I’m not afraid of them. I don’t care for extreme heights but again, that’s not much a fear as much as I just get a bit nauseous when I’m in a tall building, or when I’m flying. But the open toilet?? That truly is an irrational fear. Hm… Fine, I’ll tell you my own little quirk about toilets: I can’t stand when someone puts the lid down at night, like before you go to sleep. But again, it’s not a fear, it’s just a quirk – I sometimes have to pee during the night and I don’t like to turn on the lights. Thus, the lid needs to be up.

Cenotaph Remembrance Parade

Photos and cover courtesy of Mert Alas and Marcus Piggott for W Magazine.

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44 Responses to “Gigi Hadid’s irrational fear: ‘I just won’t shower with the toilet open’”

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  1. margie says:

    Did anyone else think it was weird that she said, ” I will ask my boyfriend Zayn Malik, “What do you want today?” Like, she could have just said boyfriend. We all know who she is dating.

    • Lolly says:

      That comment stuck out to me too, but she literally mentions him in every interview she does. I think it’s to remind everyone that they are still together, since no one cares anymore.

      • Dee says:

        Remember on Will and Grace when Jack kept referring to “Sandra Bernhardt”? So funny. But he wasn’t DATING her — Gigi referring to her boyfriend by his first and last name says more about fame-thirst and the realities of their relationship than the fact that she cooks for him!

      • Castle Toz says:

        There is a high probability that that was added by the writer post interview to give context, they just didn’t site it properly

    • BeanieBean says:

      I think the writer of the article did that. I don’t think it’s an actual quote. Oops, I see Castle Toz had the same thought.

  2. Mabs A'Mabbin says:

    I never noticed until right now, but if I’m doing anything in the bathroom aside from using the potty, I put the seat down lol. I don’t like meandering around bathrooms with lids open, but it’s not a fear for sure. I think it’s more of a blech issue. Rising germs on the move or something. I know what happens at that location, and I’d rather I didn’t lmao.

    • Astrid says:

      Yup, I always keep the lid down. Even at night. We know what happens in there LOL

    • megs283 says:

      I ALWAYS want the lid down. It seems so unsanitary and ugly to have it open. I especially close it before flushing.

    • paranormalgirl says:

      I hate having the lid up because I always end up dropping something in the toilet and then have to fish it out and toss it.

    • Elkie says:

      Ever since I heard that leaving the toilet lid open was bad Feng Shui that allowed an outlet for all the money in your house to escape(!), I have kept it down.

      Also pythons and rats can get in, ahem…

    • lucy2 says:

      My lids are ALWAYS down. Except the one time it wasn’t, and my phone fell in. 🙁

    • Girl says:

      Same. I’m pretty much grossed out my toilets in general and have them closed if not used.

  3. Jay says:

    No, Gigi, I promise that an open toilet will not make me feel weird when I shower. Jeez.

  4. JustCrimmles says:

    My brother in law lives with us, and he leaves the seat up and pees on the floor without cleaning up after himself and I’m ready to kill him but good.

  5. Newyorking says:

    That happens to me too, but I have a Manhattan bathroom. Hers must be huge and she probably doesn’t even see the toilet while getting out of the shower. It only bothers me if I see the toilet.

    • elimaeby says:

      Good point. I have a Lakeview/Wrigleyville Chicago (read: small af) apartment/bathroom. The only reason I close the lid every time I shower is that there is a chance I’ll step straight into the toilet while I’m getting out. Her bathroom probably has a separate stall for the toilet anyway. *Eyeroll*

      • Other Renee says:

        I love Chicago. My favorite city. I’d move there in a heartbeat if it didn’t have… winter.

      • Some chick says:

        Love Chicago too! I used to work in Wrigleyville (tho we called it Boystown). So much great live music, clubs, and art! But I do not miss the winters.

  6. DiegoInSF says:

    I feel like if I shower with it open, the water inside the toilet evaporates and then there’s toilet water all over so I get what she says.

  7. Thirsty Hirsty says:

    Years ago a client had Feng Shui’d her office; that was one of the things I remember the most was to keep the toilet lid down because you don’t want your good chi, your money, your business or bits of your business to be flushed away. So that got lodged in my brain. Also, I keep my toothbrush in the bathroom, so that lid stays closed.

    My theory is that everyone uses the toilet with the seat down, so the seat is to be returned to the sitting position (which everyone uses) and never, ever left with the lid AND the seat left open..that’s just super gross. My shower is immediately beside the toilet; I get this, not as a phobia or anything, just as good hygiene.

  8. Tw says:

    She looks a bit like her mom in the cover photo. I’ve always thought she looks like Mohammed but the 80’s hair and makeup reminds me of her mama.

  9. Daisy says:

    She always has that same dead eye feat open mouth expression in every single picture. But she’s pretty and has followers so that’s what it takes to be a “supermodel” these days apparently.
    Also I wish US fashion magazines featured more models like Anna Ewers, Vittoria Ceretti and Adut Akech on the covers, instead of always going for the ig famous ones but alas.

  10. Beth says:

    That is kind of a bizarre fear. I don’t think I even look at or think about the toilet unless I’m using it or cleaning it. When I talk about my boyfriend, I just say “my boyfriend “, or I’ll just say his first name, not go overboard by saying he’s my boyfriend and saying his first AND last name. Come on, Gigi. We know who you’re dating

  11. Lilalis says:

    I thought Courtney Love at first. She looks way older in these Pictures!

  12. Steff says:

    No matter how many interviews they do or personality quirks they tell people they have, these nepotism models will never be interesting.

  13. me says:

    I do sometimes have a weird fear of a snake coming out of the toilet ! It’s happened to people so…

  14. Kebbie says:

    Lol this headline cracked me up

  15. minx says:

    She does admit that her fear is irrational so I won’t shade her. I’ve had plenty of fears and phobias come and go.

  16. Other Renee says:

    Closed. Always. Period.

    Used to be just because it’s gross otherwise. Then I was afraid my kid would tumble in. Now it’s also because I have dogs and I am paranoid they’ll climb up and fall in when I’m not looking.

  17. BL says:

    If I’m having a bath or shower, the lid goes Down. I don’t want gross “toilet germs” (yes, flushed) getting mixed up in my shower steam! I thought this was normal??

  18. pollyv says:

    I always flush the toilet with the lid down and leave it down. Toilets have various levels of overspray so just think about flushing with the lid up and the amount of crap (pardon the pun) that goes all over.

  19. Annaloo. says:

    Not Debbie Harry vibes, more Taylor Momsen.

  20. Sepa49 says:

    My sister once sat on the open toilet in the middle of the night and there was a bat hanging out in that dam, dark place. Toilet lid down for sure after that encounter!

  21. Snowflake says:

    I leave the toliet lid up. I’m afraid if i don’t, i will go to use it in the middle of the night and pee all over the seat. Cause i barely open my eyes otherwise I will wake up so much that i cant go back to sleep

  22. Jennifer says:

    I always close the lid before flushing for hygiene purposes. I’m surprised when I hear that people don’t, especially during flu season with multiple people in one house.

    It seems like cruise ships always design the toilets so that you have to close the lid in order to flush. I’ve always thought they did that on purpose to help prevent the spread of stomach viruses on board.

  23. Naddie says:

    I wish I could replace my fear of spiders for this one. Those eight paws bastards are everywhere.

  24. Chef Grace says:

    I can’t stand touching the toilet lid. I spray it with sanitizer before slamming it closed. I know where the clowns hang out.
    🚽🏄

  25. Lea says:

    I have a horrible fear of heights, to the point where I sometimes start feeling nauseous when I see a picture of a chairlift on a ski slope. It’s embarrassing sometimes bug I suppose it could be worse.

  26. Shaleah says:

    She looks like Jennifer Lawrence in the last pic.