exclusive interview: selena gomez
Forget everything wewe think wewe know about Selena Gomez, Disney Princess. The Monte Carlo nyota opens up to Seventeen about growing up, moving on, and falling in love.
Selena Gomez might be dating Justin Bieber, the guy every girl obsesses over, but she still has other crushes too. That’s the great thing about her: she’s growing up and is getting to know herself, but she’s not totally abandoning the girl wewe fell in upendo with on Wizards either.
Today, the 18-year-old actress is finding a fierce independence that’s helping her trade the TV life for major movie nyota status, in July's Monte Carlo. But zaidi importantly, she’s finding peace in her relationships—including her friendship with Demi—and is opening herself up to the possibility of real love. Seventeen sat down with Selena to talk love, life, and of course, Justin.
17: Your movie, Monte Carlo, is all about growing up and moving on—graduating and taking this first major trip alone. Do wewe feel as free as Grace is?
SG: Yeah, I’ve definitely gained a lot of that recently. I went on vacation over New Year’s with a bunch of my friends, for the first time, without my parents. That was so much fun. I feel like I’m in a place where I’m on my own a little bit. It’s nice.
17: Traveling with Marafiki is definitely a major milestone. Who would wewe want to take with wewe on a trip to Paris (or Monte Carlo)?
SG: I’d upendo to go on vacation with Taylor [Swift]. I’ve been able to fly to Nashville to see her, and she’ll come to LA a lot, but it’d be nice to get away. It would be really fun. I’ve known Taylor for over three years now, so we’re at the point where we just get each other.
17: Is she your best friend?
SG: I’ve gotten to the point where the label of “best friend” is so ridiculous. If wewe have three people in your life that wewe can trust, wewe can consider yourself the luckiest person in the whole world. I have a lot of wonderful people in my life—probably five, collectively—who I can tell everything to. There’s Jennifer [Stone], my friend Ashley, and Taylor, and my two cousins.
17: Has it always been easy for wewe with friends? au have wewe ever had a friendship fall apart?
SG: Yes. wewe reflect on the people who used to be in your life, and it’s like, ‘Wow, I can’t believe that person was ever really in my life.’ But people are put into your life for seasons, for different reasons, and to teach wewe lessons. You’re growing and changing, and eventually, wewe can go from having all these Marafiki to feeling like wewe have no one, because you’ve been betrayed, au you’ve gone through things. But in this moment, I’m in such a good place with my friends. I feel confident and I’m happy there are people who I can truly trust in my life.
17: And if a person does betray you, do wewe ever give sekunde chances?
SG: I believe in sekunde chances, but I don’t believe in third au fourth chances. I upendo talking through things, and I always want to make things work, if I really upendo someone, but eventually, if they can’t fix whatever is wrong, au if they’ve done something and then they continue to do it, they’re probably not going to change for anybody. wewe can’t change a person. Jennifer Stone has told me a thousand times: “You want to be Marafiki with people who double you, not cut wewe in half.”
17: As far as Marafiki who change, au go through something, wewe obviously went through that with Demi. Are wewe two still close?
SG: Yes, of course. There’s an amount of upendo that can never—no matter what—be taken away au torn apart, no matter the situation. There are certain people who wewe will always, always love, so if anything, this just reminded me of how much I truly upendo her.
17: It’s so nice to be able to open yourself up to upendo that way. Do wewe feel like you’ve ever been in upendo before?
SG: I don’t know. I maybe had a first upendo and had my moyo broken, but reflecting on it, I don’t think that was love. I think that was just me being fifteen and going, "Oh my gosh! I know I’m in love. I’m going to marry him." So I don’t think that was love. I think as I’m getting older and having zaidi in-depth relationships, maybe I’ll experience it. At the moment, I don’t know, exactly, if I’ve been in love.
17: But when wewe did feel like wewe were in love, how did wewe deal when it ended?
SG: I’ve very emotional. When I went through my first breakup, I thought it was the end of the world, and I thought I was going to die if I didn’t have him in my life. It was good to cry it out, and just scream, au call my Marafiki in the middle of the night crying. wewe can’t shut down, wewe can’t say, ‘What can I do to make this go away?’. wewe have to let it be painful and get through it. Every siku gets better. Because when you’re in love, wewe kind of give everything and make that person your life. So every siku wewe get zaidi and zaidi of yourself back, and it feels better.
17: You’ve been very private with your relationships in the past, but with Justin, you’ve been zaidi open—you even coordinated Oscars outfits.
SG: I know. That was our prom.
17: Was there a corsage involved?
SG: No, but there should have been!
17: Is there a reason you’ve decided to be zaidi open this time around, with Justin?
SG: I don’t like hiding. I do like to keep certain things to myself, but at the end of the day, I’m eighteen, and I’m going to fall in love. I’m going to hang out with people, and I’m going to explore myself, and I’m okay with that.
17: Since wewe are zaidi open, you’ve obviously been through a tough time with Justin’s fans. Do wewe remember being younger, and being a shabiki with a crush?
SG: Are wewe kidding me? I’m still thinking Zac Efron’s my husband.
17: Well we hear he’s on the market…
SG: No. I wouldn’t touch that. I upendo Vanessa [Hudgens] way too much.
17: Do wewe have anything wewe wish wewe could say to Justin’s mashabiki now?
SG: I do see the passion that a lot of these girls have, and it’s beautiful. I upendo it. I really do. It’s special.
Forget everything wewe think wewe know about Selena Gomez, Disney Princess. The Monte Carlo nyota opens up to Seventeen about growing up, moving on, and falling in love.
Selena Gomez might be dating Justin Bieber, the guy every girl obsesses over, but she still has other crushes too. That’s the great thing about her: she’s growing up and is getting to know herself, but she’s not totally abandoning the girl wewe fell in upendo with on Wizards either.
Today, the 18-year-old actress is finding a fierce independence that’s helping her trade the TV life for major movie nyota status, in July's Monte Carlo. But zaidi importantly, she’s finding peace in her relationships—including her friendship with Demi—and is opening herself up to the possibility of real love. Seventeen sat down with Selena to talk love, life, and of course, Justin.
17: Your movie, Monte Carlo, is all about growing up and moving on—graduating and taking this first major trip alone. Do wewe feel as free as Grace is?
SG: Yeah, I’ve definitely gained a lot of that recently. I went on vacation over New Year’s with a bunch of my friends, for the first time, without my parents. That was so much fun. I feel like I’m in a place where I’m on my own a little bit. It’s nice.
17: Traveling with Marafiki is definitely a major milestone. Who would wewe want to take with wewe on a trip to Paris (or Monte Carlo)?
SG: I’d upendo to go on vacation with Taylor [Swift]. I’ve been able to fly to Nashville to see her, and she’ll come to LA a lot, but it’d be nice to get away. It would be really fun. I’ve known Taylor for over three years now, so we’re at the point where we just get each other.
17: Is she your best friend?
SG: I’ve gotten to the point where the label of “best friend” is so ridiculous. If wewe have three people in your life that wewe can trust, wewe can consider yourself the luckiest person in the whole world. I have a lot of wonderful people in my life—probably five, collectively—who I can tell everything to. There’s Jennifer [Stone], my friend Ashley, and Taylor, and my two cousins.
17: Has it always been easy for wewe with friends? au have wewe ever had a friendship fall apart?
SG: Yes. wewe reflect on the people who used to be in your life, and it’s like, ‘Wow, I can’t believe that person was ever really in my life.’ But people are put into your life for seasons, for different reasons, and to teach wewe lessons. You’re growing and changing, and eventually, wewe can go from having all these Marafiki to feeling like wewe have no one, because you’ve been betrayed, au you’ve gone through things. But in this moment, I’m in such a good place with my friends. I feel confident and I’m happy there are people who I can truly trust in my life.
17: And if a person does betray you, do wewe ever give sekunde chances?
SG: I believe in sekunde chances, but I don’t believe in third au fourth chances. I upendo talking through things, and I always want to make things work, if I really upendo someone, but eventually, if they can’t fix whatever is wrong, au if they’ve done something and then they continue to do it, they’re probably not going to change for anybody. wewe can’t change a person. Jennifer Stone has told me a thousand times: “You want to be Marafiki with people who double you, not cut wewe in half.”
17: As far as Marafiki who change, au go through something, wewe obviously went through that with Demi. Are wewe two still close?
SG: Yes, of course. There’s an amount of upendo that can never—no matter what—be taken away au torn apart, no matter the situation. There are certain people who wewe will always, always love, so if anything, this just reminded me of how much I truly upendo her.
17: It’s so nice to be able to open yourself up to upendo that way. Do wewe feel like you’ve ever been in upendo before?
SG: I don’t know. I maybe had a first upendo and had my moyo broken, but reflecting on it, I don’t think that was love. I think that was just me being fifteen and going, "Oh my gosh! I know I’m in love. I’m going to marry him." So I don’t think that was love. I think as I’m getting older and having zaidi in-depth relationships, maybe I’ll experience it. At the moment, I don’t know, exactly, if I’ve been in love.
17: But when wewe did feel like wewe were in love, how did wewe deal when it ended?
SG: I’ve very emotional. When I went through my first breakup, I thought it was the end of the world, and I thought I was going to die if I didn’t have him in my life. It was good to cry it out, and just scream, au call my Marafiki in the middle of the night crying. wewe can’t shut down, wewe can’t say, ‘What can I do to make this go away?’. wewe have to let it be painful and get through it. Every siku gets better. Because when you’re in love, wewe kind of give everything and make that person your life. So every siku wewe get zaidi and zaidi of yourself back, and it feels better.
17: You’ve been very private with your relationships in the past, but with Justin, you’ve been zaidi open—you even coordinated Oscars outfits.
SG: I know. That was our prom.
17: Was there a corsage involved?
SG: No, but there should have been!
17: Is there a reason you’ve decided to be zaidi open this time around, with Justin?
SG: I don’t like hiding. I do like to keep certain things to myself, but at the end of the day, I’m eighteen, and I’m going to fall in love. I’m going to hang out with people, and I’m going to explore myself, and I’m okay with that.
17: Since wewe are zaidi open, you’ve obviously been through a tough time with Justin’s fans. Do wewe remember being younger, and being a shabiki with a crush?
SG: Are wewe kidding me? I’m still thinking Zac Efron’s my husband.
17: Well we hear he’s on the market…
SG: No. I wouldn’t touch that. I upendo Vanessa [Hudgens] way too much.
17: Do wewe have anything wewe wish wewe could say to Justin’s mashabiki now?
SG: I do see the passion that a lot of these girls have, and it’s beautiful. I upendo it. I really do. It’s special.
