Benny Blanco says his mother saw his future with Selena Gomez before they were officially together and even encouraged him to marry her while he was still dating someone else.
On the latest episode of his Friends Keep Secrets podcast alongside Breaking Bad stars Aaron Paul and Bryan Cranston, the 38-year-old producer recalled the moment his mother made the surprising suggestion.
“The crazy thing is 2019, I'm shooting a video with Selena. I'm dating someone else,” Blanco recalled near the 39-minute mark in the video below. “My mom's on the video shoot and she says, ‘Hun, … you should marry Selena.’ And I was like, ‘What?’ And she was like, ‘You should be dating someone like Selena.’”
He continued, “And there was like two times in my life where I left a specific session late or video with her where I was like, ‘Wow, she's so cool. She's like really cool.’ ‘Cause we were friendly and we were friends, but we weren't like best friends. And every time I hung out with her for an extended period of time, I'd be like, ‘Oh my god, she's so cool.’”
“Everyone says you always marry your best friend. Like, that's when it works and she's my fucking best friend,” he concluded.
Elsewhere in the podcast, Blanco also recalled that an ex-girlfriend of his texted him saying it was “so great” that he and Gomez got married, as she recalled the producer speaking “so positively” about the singer-actress back then.
Blanco and Gomez first collaborated on the 2019 track “I Can’t Get Enough,” which also featured J Balvin and Tainy. A few years later, they collaborated again for her 2023 track “Single Soon.”
The couple went public with their relationship in December 2023, became engaged the following year, and tied the knot in September 2025.
Blanco and his podcast cohosts Lil Dicky and Kristin Batalucco are Complex’s June 2026 cover stars. In celebration, a special run of GAS Trading Cards featuring the podcast hosts is available for purchase at Complex for a limited time only.
