Benny Blanco admits Selena Gomez gave him brutal ultimatum before going public with relationship
Topics: Benny Blanco, Selena Gomez, Celebrity
Greg Harris
Featured Image Credit: Instagram/@selenagomez
Topics: Benny Blanco, Selena Gomez, Celebrity
Benny Blanco has revealed the surprising conversation he had with Selena Gomez before they made their romance public.
After years of friendship and musical collaborations, the pair's relationship blossomed into something more, with Gomez confirming their romance in December 2023.
Since then, the hitmakers have become one of the internet's favourite celebrity couples, with fans following every milestone in their whirlwind love story.
Now, Blanco has lifted the lid on their journey from friends to marriage, revealing the question Gomez asked him before telling the world they were officially a couple.
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“We kept our relationship private for a long time, about eight or nine months,” he told the Spanish magazine Icon. “And she asked me, ‘Are you sure you want to do this? I understand if you want us to just be friends.’ And then I said, ‘You know what? Screw it.’ We’re lucky because we both have friends and family we’ve known since before all this, and we’re surrounded by a good group of people we love.”
He reflected on his own experience with fame and the conversation with his manager he had about wanting to ‘slow things down’, which happened around the time he started dating Gomez.
“It was between 2018 and 2019,” he recalled. “I released my song ‘Eastside’. So I started to get a little bit famous. And from there, things got really intense. I remember talking to my manager and telling him I wanted to slow things down a bit.
“That same month I started dating Selena. Then it was like what I was going through got a rocket boost: I was launched into the air. She’s been dealing with this her whole life, so it’s something we have to face together.”
The couple announced their engagement in February 2025 which caused a stir because the photos showed her sitting on a patch of grass surrounded by Taco Bell products. One snap also gave fans a close-up of her jaw-dropping new marquise diamond ring, which Blanco had chosen as an ode to one of her songs.
The music producer went to great lengths to design the perfect engagement ring. Benny joked that he’d just tried ‘not to f**k it up’ in their first joint interview with Interview Magazine, recalling: “She showed me designs and I would always throw little hints. I’d be like, “Yeah, but if I ever made one, would you want it like this?” And then she changed her mind halfway through. It used to have huge baguettes on the side and then she was like, ‘I don’t want something that big.’”
Following a nine-month engagement, the Wizards of Waverly Place alum and Blanco tied the knot in a stunning ceremony in Santa Barbara, California in September last year.
Gomez shared a carousel of gorgeous images on Instagram to mark the big day as they said "I do", alongside the caption '9.27.25'.
Gomez and Blanco first met when she was 16 and he was 20, with Selena’s mum connecting them professionally as Selena prepared to sign a record deal.
They begin to collaborate on music together for Selena’s Revival album, with Blanco earning a producing credit on tracks ‘Kill Em with Kindness’ and ‘Same Old Love’.
In the summer, while Gomez drops the song ‘Single Soon’ (co-produced by Blanco) and denies dating anyone on TikTok, she’s actually started secretly seeing Blanco.
By November, rumours the two are an item are starting to swirl after fans notice Gomez’s mum Mandy Teefey has recently followed Blanco on Instagram.
Gomez then confirms the relationship in December, first by liking a celebrity gossip account’s Instagram post about the rumours, then posting a black and white selfie of herself lying on Blanco’s chest on her Instagram story.
Shortly after, she shares a photo of a ring with the letter ‘B’ on her finger.
Gomez and Blanco attend a Los Angeles Lakers game for their first public outing together.
During an appearance on The Howard Stern Show, Stern says he thinks Blanco and Gomez will wed. Gomez responds: “You and me both … I gotta get my act together!”
In a Vanity Fair story, Gomez shares that she can’t carry her own children for medical reasons, but is eager to start a family.
Gomez announces the pair are engaged, sharing an Instagram photo of her ring with the caption: “forever begins now…”
The pair release joint album I Said I Loved You First, which includes steamy lyrics about riding it ‘like a cowboy’.
Gomez and Blanco tie the knot at Sea Crest Nursery near Santa Barbara, California. The guest list includes Taylor Swift, Martin Short, Steve Martin and Paul Rudd. Gomez has three separate wedding dresses for the occasion.