Justin Bieber has revealed that he was celibate for more than a year before he married long-time friend Hailey Baldwin last September.

The 24-year-old admitted he had developed “a legitimate problem with sex” during a candid interview with Vogue magazine for its March issue.

Justin and Hailey (who has changed her name to Bieber) married at a New York courthouse in September after reconnecting and rekindling a former relationship in June.

The newlyweds, who are still planning on having a big white wedding, revealed to interviewer Rob Haskell that they had waited to have sex again until their wedding night.

 

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“I’ve always wanted security…With the lifestyle I live, everything is so uncertain. I need one thing that’s certain. And that is my baby boo,” @justinbieber says of his wife @haileybieber in our March cover story. Tap the link in our bio to read more about their passionate, not-always-easy, but absolutely all-in romance. Photographed by #AnnieLeibovitz, styled by @tonnegood, @michael_philouze, and @karlawelchstylist written by @robertjhaskell, Vogue, March 2019

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Although the Sorry singer admitted part of the reason they got married so quickly was to have sex again, he also felt the urgency because of the positive impact Hailey had on him.

“When I saw her last June, I just forgot how much I loved her and how much I missed her and how much of a positive impact she made on my life. I was like, ‘Holy cow, this is what I’ve been looking for’.”

For more than more than a year before the pair reconnected at a Christian conference in Miami, Justin had been abstaining from sex.

He told the magazine that his self-imposed celibacy was to bring him closer to God, but also try to heal from some problems he’d developed.

While he didn’t go into great detail, he spoke of sex causing “pain” to people. The reporter also described his issue as an “addiction” and that sex “had long since ceased to provide [Justin] any pleasure”.

“I think sex can cause a lot of pain,” Justin said. “Sometimes people have sex because they don’t feel good enough. Because they lack self-worth. Women do that, and guys do that.

“I wanted to rededicate myself to God in that way because I really felt it was better for the condition of my soul.

“And I believe that God blessed me with Hailey as a result.”

The couple also spoke about their long history together. They had met in 2009 after Justin’s mother and Hailey’s father developed a friendship over their shared Christian faith.

 

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hey baby… @voguemagazine

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Then as older teens they became close friends, but when things turned romantic three years ago, it didn’t last long and ended badly.

But when the saw each other at the same conference they decided they could be friends again, and a friendship quickly became a relationship, which quickly became a marriage.

Hailey told Vogue that so far, things hadn’t been easy, particularly in the first few weeks when she was adjusting to living in a house outside of Toronto, Canada, hundreds of kilometres away from her family.

“The thing is, marriage is very hard,” the 22-year-old said. “It’s really effing hard.”

The model added that their marriage wasn’t “a magical fantasy”, but it was still “beautiful”.

“We’re going to change a lot. But we’re committed to growing together and supporting each other in those changes.”