Long before Benny Blanco entered her life, Selena Gomez had her eyes on a handful of stars.
While speaking to W for the publication’s best performances issue published Friday (Jan. 3), the 32-year-old singer-actress shared that she “probably had too many crushes” when she was younger. “Jesse McCartney — when ‘Beautiful Soul’ came out — that was just life-changing for me,” Gomez said, giving one example.
“I loved Chad Michael Murray from One Tree Hill,” she continued. “I also just had crushes more in real life than on actors or musicians.”
Speaking of crushes, the Rare Beauty founder also opened up about her first kisses — on screen and off. Gomez has previously said that her very first smooch was technically with Dylan Sprouse during a guest stint on The Suite Life of Zack and Cody, about which she told W: “It was really funny because both of us were so young. We were figuring out how to kiss. I had never done it, and I was so scared.”
But of her first kiss without cameras present, Gomez recalled, “My real-life one would probably be with a boy named Juan, and I was 14.”
The “Lose You to Love Me” singer’s W cover comes in honor of her performance in Jacques Audiard’s musical drama Emilia Pérez, for which she recently nabbed a Golden Globes nod for best supporting actress. Her costar in the film, Zoe Saldaña, as well as Ariana Grande, Cynthia Erivo, Zendaya, Paul Mescal and more also posed for the publication’s best performances package.
When Gomez did her interview for the issue, she wasn’t yet engaged to a certain pop-music hitmaker. Now, Blanco is poised to be the Wizards of Waverly Place alum’s forever celebrity crush after he popped the question in December.
The pair had, however, celebrated Halloween 2024 together before Gomez spoke to W, with the Spring Breakers star dressing up as Alice from Alice in Wonderland while her then-boyfriend went all out for a Mad Hatter tribute. “He used prosthetics!” Gomez gushed to the publication.
“Until this year, I hadn’t dressed up for Halloween since I was a kid,” she added. “We were invited to a party, so I had a reason to dress up … I think it’s safe to say we won best costume at the party.”
See Gomez on the cover of W below.
