Selena Gomez is truly rare.
She comes from humble beginnings, as the daughter of a single mother who has been working towards stardom ever since she was young.
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She even managed to break free from the Disney chains and build a successful career. Today, she’s one of the most prominent figures in Hollywood.
Here are 10+ facts about the star.
1. She was raised by a single mother.
Selena’s mother, Amanda Teefey, split from Selena’s dad, Ricardo Joel Gomez, when Selena was just five.
At first, it was frustrating for Selena to be raised by a single mother.
She “never saw the light at the end of the tunnel where my mom was working hard to provide a better life for me.”
Eventually, though, she adopted gratitude:
“I’m terrified of what I would have become if I’d stayed there.”
2. She was on *Barney*.
In the way, way early days of her career, Selena landed a gig on Barney & Friends in 2002.
This was even how she met Demi Lovato, as the pair bonded while waiting in line for the audition.
3. Speaking of Demi, they’re no longer friends.
Once upon a time, these two were the best of friends.
They were both Disney stars who even worked on a movie together. They also made random YouTube videos together in their free time, like this one. But that’s all changed since then.
During an interview with *Harper’s Bazaar*, Demi revealed that the two aren’t close anymore.
“When you grow up with somebody, you’re always going to have love for them. But I’m not friends with her, so [the Instagram post] felt… ,” she said, stopping herself.
She had been referring to Selena posting a supportive Instagram story after Demi’s emotional comeback Grammy performance.
Months later, the bad blood continued… Demi’s Finsta account where she reportedly bashed Selena, came to light.
This led to a #DemiIsOverParty trending on Twitter.
4. She’s always been open with her health struggles with lupus.
The singer was diagnosed with the autoimmune disease in 2013.
Since then, she’s had an ongoing health battle with the condition. She even had to have a kidney transplant in 2017.
Her best friend, Francia Raisa, bravely donated her kidney to Selena in 2017.
“The lupus was a huge thing that happened to me, then the kidney thing happened, and that was the scariest because, yeah, you could actually die,” Selena told WSJ .
While most friends have matching bracelets, these two have matching scars .
5. Britney Spears helped her shed her Disney image.
“Once Disney was over, I was like, ‘Oh, [expletive],’ ” Gomez told W magazine.
“I didn’t know what I wanted to be. I had to learn to be myself.”
Selena ended up getting inspiration from Spears’ music video for “I’m A Slave 4 U.”
She thought that the video was so hot and even channeled this type of energy during her first solo tour.
This included everything from the costumes she wore to the overall performance.
6. She’s been body-shamed a lot in the past.
The singer’s weight has fluctuated over the years as one of the side effects of taking her lupus medication.
Sadly, this has led to some nasty comments, which Selena said has “really messed her up.”
While speaking to the Giving Back Generation podcast, she said: “I experienced body image [issues] with my weight fluctuation for the first time.”
“I have Lupus and deal with kidney issues and high blood pressure, so I deal with a lot of health issues. For me that’s when I really started noticing more of the body image stuff.”
7. She replaced Miley Cyrus in *Hotel Transylvania*.
While Miley was set to play Mavis, the teenage vampire daughter of Adam Sandler’s Dracula, that all changed when she bought her ex, Liam Hemsworth, a penis cake and licked it…
8. She reportedly refuses to hire anyone who is named “Justin.”
Move over, Voldermort — there’s a new “He Who Must Not Be Named!”
According to Wetpaint , this is one of Selena’s backstage demands. She made the request after their 2014 breakup.
If you’re having trouble believing that this is true, this might shed some light:
Selena once left a video interview after the interviewer dared to ask her a question about Justin.
When this happened, the singer left the video call SO QUICK.
9. She is not immune to Photoshop fails.
When Selena’s makeup artist, Hung Vanngo, posted this photo, fans spotted a dented doorframe to the left.
Although it looks like the image was edited to make her hair look fuller, it’s since been taken down.
10. She has several hidden talents.
What can’t she do??
During an interview with I Heart Radio, she rapped an A$AP Rocky song and then spat her gum in the air and caught it in her mouth.
Um, goals.
11. She starts every morning with a shot of ginger.
She even shared this strange habit with James Corden during a Late Late Show episode of Carpool Karaoke.
“It’s killing everything inside—all of the bad things,” she said before they took the shot.
12. She has several tattoos.
She’s no stranger to getting inked. Some of her most prominent ones include the words “Rare,” on her neck and the matching tatt she has with Julia Michaels.
She told GQ that the “love yourself first” tatt is the one that means the most.
