Selena Gomez is getting candid about the moment she met Taylor Swift – and how a couple of teenage breakups turned into a 16-year ride-or-die friendship.
On the Aug. 7 episode of the Therapuss with Jake Shane podcast, the 33-year-old singer and actress looked back at meeting Swift, now 35, back in 2008. The spark? Both were dating Jonas Brothers at the time – Selena with Nick Jonas and Taylor with Joe Jonas.
“Taylor and I dated the Jonas Brothers,” Selena told Shane, 25, laughing about how it all started. “I dated Nick and she dated Joe. And everything was, it was cute, we were young. We all know and love each other now and it’s so cute. We don’t know what we were doing – She and I like to say the best thing we got out of those relationships was each other because it was really sweet.”
Selena was about 15 and Taylor around 18 during those short-lived romances. She remembers it as the era of “crazy curly Taylor” with bracelets stacked all the way up her arms. More importantly, it was the start of a bond that grew stronger after the inevitable breakups. “We bonded over the breakup, as girls do,” Selena admitted. “And then we just stuck around for all the ups and downs that came after and here we are now 16 years later.”
The Only Murders in the Building star also shared a memory from those early days – being one of the first people to hear “Love Story” before it dropped in 2008. “I believe ‘Love Story’ was the first song she had ever played me and it wasn’t released yet,” Selena said. “Yeah, I was in a hotel room and I remember it vividly. It was just one of those songs I instantly heard and thought, this is one of the most beautiful songs ever.”
She recalled Taylor’s uncertainty at the time: “She was like, ‘Okay I just want to play you this song but just like you know, I don’t know it’s going to be the first single, I think, I think.’ Just hearing her say those little thoughts and listening to it… yeah, she is a chameleon, she’s incredible.”
Selena’s trip down memory lane comes just weeks after she posted a sweet photo of her and Taylor together on July 20. The pic, part of a carousel celebrating what she called “the most beautiful” year of her life, showed the two sitting close among a pile of metallic balloons. Selena reached her hand toward the camera while Taylor leaned in, resting her head slightly and looking up into the lens.
Through the years, the duo’s friendship has played out both publicly and privately. From cheering each other on at award shows to celebrating life milestones, they’ve been each other’s constant. Taylor was one of the first to celebrate Selena’s engagement to music producer Benny Blanco, 37, even joking that she’d be the flower girl at their upcoming wedding.
Sixteen years later, the Jonas Brothers chapter is a distant teenage memory, but for Taylor Swift and Selena Gomez, it was the unlikely beginning of a friendship that’s weathered fame, heartbreak, career highs, and personal milestones – and still shows no signs of fading.
Jamie Wells has a knack for getting the inside scoop on Hollywood’s biggest stars and up-and-coming talent. With a sharp eye for industry trends and an ear for viral moments, Jamie covers everything from red-carpet events to behind-the-scenes drama in movies, TV, and celebrity culture.
