Hailey Bieber's relationship with Selena Gomez explained after her subtle reaction to engagement news ignited fan theory

Hailey Bieber recently revealed what her relationship is really like with Selena Gomez, prior to her unexpected reaction to the singer's engagement.

Selena Gomez had the world's eyes on her yesterday (December 12), after announcing her engagement to music producer Benny Blanco with a picture of her enormous ring.

The 32-year-old captioned the series of happy pictures ‘forever begins now..’, as her husband-to-be, 36, commented: "Hey wait… that’s my wife."

The snaps included a sweet picture of the happy couple hugging, and Selena's undeniable smile told fans everything they wanted to know.

A flock of celebrities rushed to the comments to wish them well, including her long-time industry bestie Taylor Swift, who wrote: "Yes I will be the flower girl."

Jennifer Aniston also said: "HONEY!! Congratulations sweet mama!”

While, bizarrely, Gordon Ramsay added: "Congratulations to you both it must be the cooking.”

But one person's subtle congratulations came as a huge shock to fans.

In a shocking turn of events, Hailey Bieber also liked the engagement post. However, their relationship hasn't always been so friendly.

Let's take a look at all the full timeline of the 'beef' between the celebs, which kicked off in Jan 2023:

9 January: Selena gets trolled

At the beginning of the year, Selena suffered significant trolling in pictures of her on holiday.

Not long after Hailey made a TikTok (which she quickly deleted), lip-syncing to the sound, 'And I’m not saying she deserved it, but God’s timing is always right'.

Fans presumed that the video was aimed at her husband's former beau.

11 January: Hailey's TikTok response

Hailey responded to the alleged beef, denying that the TikTok was aimed at anybody.

She said: "I never comment on this type of thing but we were just having a girls’ night and did a random TikTok sound for fun. It’s not directed at anyone.”

9 February: Selena claps back in the comments

Selena stepped into the TikTok comments and wrote: "It’s ok! I don’t let these things get me down! Be nice to everyone! x.”

22 February: Enter Kylie Jenner

Kylie Jenner placed herself in the centre of the feud, sending fans spiralling.

Selena made a video mentioning that she had accidentally over-lined her eyebrows...to which Jenner posted about her brows saying: "This was an accident???"

She also added fuel to the fire by sharing a pic of Hailey's brows....eeek!

23 February: Kylie defends Selena

Coming to Selena's defence, Kylie clarified: "This is reaching. No shade towards Selena ever and I didn’t see her eyebrow posts! U guys are making something out of nothing. This is silly.”

24 February: Selena comments again

Fans had noticed that Selena had commented on multiple videos calling Hailey out for alleged bullying.

25 February: The 'drama' peaks

At the peak of the entire drama, none other than Justin Bieber's mum steps into the chaos.

Pattie Mallette, 49, tweeted: "Hate is ugly. Don't be ugly."

26 February: Pattie Mallette strikes again

Fans recognised that Pattie had liked, and then quickly unliked, a video which stated that Selena was taking a break from social media among all the drama.

3 March: Followers plummet

Both Kylie and Hailey lost a significant amount of followers, while Selena majorly gained them.

5 March: Selena urges fans to be kind

Selena called on fans to be 'kinder' to each other.

She said: "Please, please be kinder and consider others mental health.

"My heart has been heavy and I only want good for everyone. All my love”

6 March: Hailey receives hate

A source told Us Weekly that Hailey had been leaning on her hubby for support during the hate.

They said: "Justin has been an amazing support system for Hailey throughout all this.

"He knows how happy Hailey felt after she and Selena made amends and thought they had put this all behind them.”

14 March: TikTok drama (again)

Selena’s Wizards of Waverly Place co-star Jennifer Stone made a TikTok lip-syncing audio which said: "People should shut the f*** up, back the f*** off, and let this woman shine her light.”

24 March: Selena issues statement

Things got real.

Selena made a statement on her Instagram addressing the pair's feud directly.

She said: "Hailey Bieber reached out to me and let me know that she has been receiving death threats and such hateful negativity.

"This isn’t what I stand for. No one should have to experience hate or bullying. I’ve always advocated for kindness and really want this all to stop."

A few hours later, Hailey thanked her for speaking to fans, adding: "I want to thank Selena for speaking out, as her and I have been discussing the last few weeks how to move past this ongoing narrative between her and I."

13 June: Hailey issues another statement

Fast forward some time, Hailey releases another statement, pleading with fans to stop directing hate toward her - this time without context.

She said: "If you're leaving mean or rude comments on my behalf on anyone's posts just know that I don't want that, nor do I ever or will I ever support or condone hateful, mean, or nasty comments."

The model also revealed that she cleared the air with Selena on a phone call after her and Justin's wedding.

She added: "That's also why I feel like, well, if everybody on our side knows what happened and we're good and we could walk away from it with clarity and respect, then that's fine."

So, where are Hailey and Selena at now?

Well, after Hailey's engagement seal of approval this week, fans have now declared that 'war is over' between them.

One user added: "So everybody can be happy now. Thank God.”

Another said: "We love women supporting women. This made my heart happy."

Benny and Selena have dated for around a year, and the producer has previously spoken about their relationship.

He told People earlier this year that his wife-to-be enjoys both grand gestures and ‘simpler’ dates.