All love stories have to start somewhere, and for Justin and Hailey Bieber, that ‘somewhere’ was backstage at the Today show in 2009.

It was more than 15 years ago when the pair first locked eyes, and back then Hailey was little more than a fan who was meeting the young, up-and-coming Canadian artist as he released his first album to the world.

Justin had appeared on the Today show to help promote the release of ‘My World’, and Hailey attended the recording with her dad, actor Stephen Baldwin.

According to People, Baldwin was friends with Justin’s mom, Pattie Mallette, and helped orchestrate the meeting between Hailey and Justin. Little did he know at the time, he was witnessing the first meeting of a future husband and wife.

In the clip, which has been shared on YouTube, Justin can be seen shaking hands with Baldwin and giving his iconic mop of hair a quick swoosh.

Baldwin introduces his daughter, Hailey, who reaches out to shake Justin’s hand while keeping her other arm firmly positioned across her body, presumably in a classic teenage effort to appear completely unbothered.

“We’ve been enjoying your music,” Baldwin tells Justin, who replies to say that they’d already briefly met at an airport on a previous occasion.

As Justin walks away, Baldwin stands with Hailey and says ‘we’ll see you again’.

Exactly how much, Baldwin had no idea.

Justin and Hailey got married in 2018 (Alberto E. Rodriguez/Getty Images)

Now one marriage and one child later, Justin and Hailey are much more than strangers and fans can’t get over the adorable sight of their first meeting.

“Met his future wife AND mother of his first child. Love this for them,” one viewer commented.

Another wrote: “She looked so shy. That’s not an easy age for any of us. Very sweet that they ended up getting married.”

A third added: “The way she looks at him in the first shot, so cute like this will be your future husband and father of your child one day.”

After their first meeting, it wasn’t until 2011 that the future couple were spotted together again, this time at the premiere of Justin’s Never Say Never documentary in New York City, which Hailey once again attended with her dad.

Over the years the pair were spotted at church together and spoke about being ‘good friends’, but in 2015 they were seen kissing at a New Year’s Eve party. The couple later split up for a period of time, but they got back together in 2018 and went on to get married.

In August 2024, the pair announced the birth of their first child, Jack Blues Bieber.

Hailey Bieber has used the news of her husband Justin Bieber’s new album to send a sharply-worded message apparently aimed at critics questioning the state of their relationship.

Bieber surprised fans with the announcement of his new record, titled Swag, which is made up of 21 brand new songs.

The pop star shared a series of Instagram posts to promote the news, with clips featuring billboards of the album cover and its tracklist.

Both the cover and the track list indicate that Swag is a personal album for Bieber, who became a dad for the first time when Hailey gave birth to their son, Jack Blues, in August.

One of the tracks is titled ‘Dadz Love’, while another is called ‘Therapy Session’.

Album artwork features all three members of the pop star’s family, with Bieber stood with his back to the camera while Hailey can be seen holding Jack in the background.

The release of the album comes following weeks of speculation about the state of Bieber and Hailey’s relationship, with some fans concerned the couple, who married in 2018, could be heading for divorce.

However, the album cover indicates they’re still a team, and Hailey helped solidify that fact by promoting Bieber’s album on her Instagram story.

Alongside her own photos of billboards featuring Swag, Hailey shared a snap of her and Bieber together, and a photo of the cover art featuring them with their son.

She included a caption with the image which appeared to be a response to the divorce rumors, reading: “Is it finally clocking to you f**king losers?”

As well as the caption being an apparent declaration that she and Bieber are going strong, it’s also a reference to a recent video of Bieber in which he confronted a photographer trying to get pictures of him on Father’s Day.

In the clip, Bieber said: “I’m a dad. I’m a husband. You’re not getting it. It’s not clocking to you. I’m standing on business.”

After the clip went viral, Bieber sampled it in one of his new songs, titled ‘Butterflies’.

Dropping in the midst of concerns about their relationship, the album has prompted a huge positive reaction from fans online.

“i cried happy tears,” one fan commented on the album artwork of Hailey, Bieber and Jack Blues.

Another added: “justin bieber teasing a new era with a photoshoot: jack blues in diapers, hailey glowing, and justin looking like he just brought 2013 swag into fatherhood.”

Swag is available to stream now.

Fans of Justin Bieber have started sharing bizarre theories after the pop star posted an Instagram photo in apparent tribute to his wife, Hailey Bieber.

Bieber, 31, has been busy on Instagram recently, having already sparked concern from fans after he shared a post with the caption ‘Detoxxxxxxxxxxx’ just two days ago.

With a towel on his head and sweat visible on his face, Bieber left fans worrying about his well-being with the post – but just one day later he was back and appeared all loved up.

The post in question features four snaps zoomed in to varying degrees, showing Bieber with his arms around a woman as they sit on a bench overlooking the sunset. While the singer’s face is visible and looking happy in all of the photos, the woman is facing the other direction and isn’t clearly visible in the photos.

Bieber captioned the photo ‘My forever n always’, followed by a series of loveheart emojis.

Without even looking at the pictures, it’s not hard to guess who Bieber might be hugging – his wife of seven years, Hailey. The context clues are enough, with the caption reflective of their marriage vows and the intimate pose reflecting their closeness.

However, after studying the pictures, some of Bieber’s fans aren’t so sure about that conclusion. In fact, they’ve been questioning whether the woman in the photos is actually Hailey at all.

One fan commented: “That doesn’t looks like Hailey???,” as another wrote: “So who’s the girl on the picture?”

A third boldly claimed: “That’s not Hailey.”

Hailey isn’t tagged in the photo, though Bieber did make the effort to tag his brand, Skylrk, which only sparked further confusion.

The post comes at a time when fans have already shared concerns over Bieber and Hailey’s relationship, with Hailey surprising fans last month when she shared a comment to Bieber’s page on Father’s Day, writing: “Father’s Day sucks a**.”

But in spite of the questions that Bieber’s recent post has raised, other fans have stuck up for the couple and said it’s nice to see them pictured together again.

“Please just let this man live & hug his wife,” one person commented.

Another added: “You guys in the comments are crazy, you guys are always saying why doesn’t he post his wife and then he does and now y’all saying it is not Hailey. They can never catch a break.”

UNILAD has reached out to representatives for Bieber for comment.

Fans of Hailey and Justin Bieber are defending the couple against concerns their marriage may be in trouble after spotting a subtle detail in a new Instagram Story shared by the Rhode founder.

Hailey and Justin tied the knot in 2018 after a few on-and-off years of dating, and they’ve since gone on to welcome their first child, Jack Blues, who Hailey said ‘changed [her] whole life’.

In October 2024, Hailey spoke to Elle about her excitement to share the fall season with her family, but in recent months fans have become concerned that her relationship with Justin may be on the rocks.

Just last weekend, Hailey shocked fans when she added a comment on the singer’s Father’s Day Instagram post, saying: “Father’s Day sucks a**.”

The comment prompted one fan to ask: “Do they even like each other? Just waiting for the announcement that they’re divorcing.”

However, Hailey has since taken to Instagram again to share a selfie, and fans think one particular detail in the post is proof that she and Justin are still going strong.

The Insta Story featured Hailey posing in a mirror, with her hair pulled back and wearing a white t-shirt. She also has a huge, oval-shaped diamond ring on her fourth finger, and it’s this that fans have pointed to while defending their relationship.

Taking to Twitter, one person wrote: “Media: ‘the bieber’s marriage is already over’.

“Hailey: wearing her ring and supporting skylrk.”

Skylrk is Justin’s new clothing brand, which has been in the works since 2023 but has yet to have its official launch.

Hailey Bieber shared the selfie on her Instagram Story (Instagram/@haileybieber)

Hailey’s oval ring is one of two that the model has shown off amid her relationship to Justin, debuted when she swapped out her original engagement ring for the larger diamond as she and her husband prepared to welcome their first child.

According to Taylor and Hart, the latest ring is set on a simple gold band and is thought to be worth between $1- $1.5 million.

But while Hailey’s new Instagram Story is enough to convince some fans that she and Justin are going strong, others are still urging the model to ‘check on’ Justin, especially after he recently shared a post on Instagram in which he said he was ‘broken’.

The star wrote: “People keep telling me to heal. Don’t you think if I could have fixed myself I would have already?

“I know I’m broken. I know I have anger issues. I tried to do the work my whole life to be like the people who told me I needed to be fixed like them. And it just keeps making me more tired and more angry.”

Fans have shown their support for Justin in the wake of his post, with one writing: “Sending love and prayers. I hope you find peace.”

Meanwhile, Hailey has been gaining attention elsewhere as fans noticed she and Selena Gomez, who previously had a relationship with Justin, had unfollowed each other on Instagram.