Selena Gomez has opened up on what life was like post-breakup after nearly a decade of her on-again, off-again romance with Justin Bieber. Joining for a tell-all interview on Jessie and Lennie Ware’s “Table Manners” podcast alongside her fiancé Benny Blanco, the “Calm Down” singer recounted her first kiss with the producer, whom she started dating in 2023 via In Style.
“I hadn’t liked anyone in a very long time,” Gomez shared.
“So some kisses are for fun, and then when you feel something behind a kiss, it’s completely different. And I’d been alone for about five years, with the exception of a few shitty dates here and there, but never felt that way. And I was a little embarrassed.”
Gomez’s admission that she felt “alone” was a rare moment for the Emilia Pérez actress, who rarely gets candid about her personal life in public. Her inclination for privacy is comprehensible given the intense scrutiny she and Bieber endured from 2010 to their final breakup in 2018. Fans continued to root for “Jelena” even after their split and Bieber’s prompt re-coupling with his now-wife, Hailey Bieber.
This isn’t the first time Gomez has reflected on her decade with Bieber, however. In 2022, the “Love On” singer revealed that she considers their breakup “the best thing” that had ever happened to her.
“I felt haunted by a past relationship that no one wanted to let go of,” Gomez said in her Apple TV+ documentary My Mind & Me. “But then I just moved past it. I wasn’t afraid anymore.”
Gomez’s new relationship with Blanco has been celebrated by family, friends, and fans alike. The pair were longtime friends before coupling up and got engaged after roughly one year of dating, in December 2024. “Forever begins now,” she wrote on Instagram at the time.
