Selena Gomez admitted she always found Benny Blanco “funny,” but she never expected they would one day be engaged. The 33-year-old singer recalled first meeting the record producer when she was just 16. At that time, they were discussing a possible music collaboration, though her debut songs didn’t release until she was 17 or 18.
“We met when I was 16 because we were going to possibly work together, but I didn’t start releasing music until 17/18 officially, and so we saw each other around,” she told the Therapuss with Jake Shane podcast. “It was nice, and then I don’t know… I feel like he was an acquaintance, if that makes sense?”
Early Music Collaborations with No Romance
Selena explained they were never close friends in the beginning. “To be honest, I wasn’t besties. I just thought he was nice,” she said. The two later worked on Same Old Love, which she described as “awesome,” and later collaborated on I Can’t Get Enough with Tainy and J Balvin. However, even during those projects, she didn’t see him as a romantic interest.
Timing Changed Everything
For years, Selena never considered Benny, now 37, as a potential partner. Over time, her perspective shifted. She reflected, “When you realise you’re not in that place anymore, you need to be where you are? It’s all about timing to meet that person. Even if I did think, ‘Oh, I need to take this a step forward,’ then it wouldn’t have worked. Simply, you just have to be there mentally in order to move forward with something healthy.”
Reconnecting Through Music
Their romantic journey began unexpectedly when they reunited for the track Single Soon. Selena admitted, “It wasn’t our favourite… just because I can say this cause I’m marrying him. Just really wasn’t what I thought I wanted so he came in and he agrees on a lot of levels.”
She recalled greeting him warmly: “I was like, ‘Oh, Hi Benny,’ and we spoke for two hours.” During the conversation, she even asked him to introduce her to “anybody that he knew that was cute.” Benny suggested she join one of his dinner nights. “You should come… and next thing you know we’re dating,” Selena revealed.
