“Romance is not dead.”
Who: Emmy-nominated actress and Grammy-nominated singer Selena Gomez, 30, and two-time Grammy-winning musician Justin Bieber, 29.
How They Met: Like many celebrity relationships, Justin’s folks called Selena’s folks. After revealing during an interview with radio host DJ Ski in 2009 that the Disney Channel star was his celebrity crush, Justin’s manager, Scooter Braun, called Selena’s mother (who was his wife at the time) to set up a meeting between the two. manager). ,
For years, Selena was adamant that Justin was more like a brother than a boyfriend, and even when they reportedly had a “cuddly” date at an IHOP in Philadelphia in December 2010 Even then the lyricist played the role of the cuckoo. “Who doesn’t love pancakes? We were both performing at the same venue so we went and had pancakes together.” That’s all. All innocent.”
Three weeks later, the pair were photographed sharing an innocent New Year’s Eve kiss on a yacht in St. Lucia, confirming what everyone already suspected – they were a couple. But it wasn’t until February that Selena and Justin made their red carpet debut at the Vanity Fair Oscar Party (some super-cute photo booth pics were taken, too).
From that point on, Jelena – as they were affectionately known – wasn’t shy about their romances. They engaged in cute PDA courtside at a Lakers game, attended red-carpet events together, and jetted off for a couples vacation to Hawaii.
In May 2011, Selena told Seventeen why she decided to go public with her relationship with Justin. “I don’t like to hide. I like to keep some things to myself, but after all, I’m 18 and I’m going to be in love.” I’m going to explore myself, and I’m okay with that.”
Why We Loved Them: Jelena’s teen-dream love story was the one that defined a generation. Fans have never been more invested (or, rooted) in a celebrity pairing than with Selena and Justin. As one of young Hollywood’s longest-running couples (eight years!), there was something relatable and incredibly endearing about how the two could never seem to shake each other like many people had to before their first love affair. It is difficult to do with love.
In 2015, Bieber told Complex magazine of their dramatic ups and downs years, “When things would happen, I’d lose my freaking mind, and she’d lose her mind, and we’d fight so hard because we were so invested in each other.” to another. Love is a choice. Love is not a feeling.”
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When they peaked: Their iconic Staples Center date. In September 2011, it was reported that Justin rented out the entire Staples Center (now called the Crypto.com Arena) in Los Angeles for a romantic movie night with Selena. With the 20,000-seat amphitheatre, the pair enjoyed a candlelit dinner at Court and a private screening of Titanic.
“Romance is not dead,” Bieber tweeted that night. “Treat your lady right.”
The Breakup: In November 2012, Jelena had the first of many breakups to come. After a year and a half of dating, the two split for unknown reasons, but appeared together again five months later, when Bieber posted a series of old photos of the couple on Instagram. They split again in November 2014, when Justin was still with his now-wife Hailey Bieber (née Baldwin) and Selena was having a brief romance with DJ Z.
The To Do or Not To Do-they saga continued into 2016 before they both moved on with new relationships – Selena was with The Weeknd, while Justin began dating Sofia Richie for a short period of time. A year later, they reconciled (again) much to the delight of the internet. But their reunion didn’t last long. After four months of hockey dates, bike rides, and church services, Selena and Justin went on a break that eventually turned into a breakup in March 2018.
“Selena realized that even though they’ve made some positive improvements, they’re just not a perfect match,” a source told E!. news at that time. Another insider reported that Selena “decided she’s doing her own thing,” adding that she “rarely talks about Justin, and is totally open to dating.”
Within months of the split, Justin reunited with Hailey and the two quickly became engaged, which caused a lot of drama on social media and saw Selena release her breakup song “Lose You to Love Me”.
Looking back on their relationship years later, Selena came to the realization that breaking up with Justin was “the best thing” that ever happened to her. “I felt haunted by a past relationship that no one wanted to let go,” Gomez said in her documentary My Mind and Me. “But then I got over it. I wasn’t afraid anymore.”
He added, “I feel like the worst heartbreak I’ve ever had to go through. I feel like it should have happened, and ultimately, it was the best thing that ever happened to me.”
Where are they now: Three months after his split from Gomez, Bieber began dating ex-girlfriend Hailey Baldwin. In June, the two were seen kissing and by July they were engaged. In September 2018, Hailey and Justin were married at a New York City courthouse, before officially tying the knot a year later during a second wedding ceremony in South Carolina.
With his new role as a husband, Justin came into 2020 with the album Changes, which read like a romantic love letter to Hailey. The next year, he came out with his sixth studio album, Justice, and embarked on a world tour to promote his new music—that is, until he had to cancel his last six concerts due to a recent Ramsay Hunt syndrome diagnosis. Programs were not forced to cancel.
In the years following her breakup with Justin, Selena remained single. However, just a few months back, they sparked dating rumors after they were spotted on a bowling date with The Chainsmokers’ Drew Taggart. But Selena quickly shut down all speculation, saying she was single in a now-deleted Instagram post. “I love being single,” she wrote, adding the hashtag #iamsingle at the bottom.
In 2020, Selena came out with her first album in five years, Rare, which included Bieber’s breakup ballad “Lose You to Love Me”, and also released a beauty brand by the same name. The following year, Gomez returned to acting with a starring role in the Hulu mystery series Only Murders in the Building and was nominated for an Emmy as an executive producer on the show.