Benny Blanco Took Selena Gomez to "Prom" Since She Didn’t Get to Go as a Teen

Making your birthday about someone else? That’s true love.

Selena Gomez in a light blue gown and Benny Blanco in a white suit at the 2025 Golden Globe Awards
(Image credit: Getty Images)

It was Benny Blanco's special day, but he decided to make it all about Selena Gomez. In an interview with Jennifer Hudson, Blanco shared that he chose to make his recent birthday party prom-themed, because his fiancée never attended prom as a teenager. Meanwhile, this marked Blanco's third time at the high school dance.

"Selena had never been to a prom before, so I thought I’d throw us a prom for my birthday," Blanco said on the April 7 episode of The Jennifer Hudson Show.

Blanco turned 37 on March 8 and celebrated with a party full of formalwear and Mylar balloons. As previously reported by People, photos from the event could be seen on the Instagram of Theresa Mingus, Gomez's friend and ex-assistant.

Mingus' snaps show the I Said I Love You First singer's prom look: a pink ballgown and black jacket. On March 24, Gomez posted a photo that appears to be from the night of the party that shows her wearing the dress while sitting on Blanco's back. According to Page Six, the dress is by Oscar de la Renta and worth nearly $11K. What? What did you wear to prom?

Gomez never attended the traditional school dance, because by the time she was a teenager, she was already a huge star and was being homeschooled. When the Emilia Pérez actor was 18 years old in 2010, she was starring on the Disney Channel series Wizards of Waverly Place and releasing her second album with her band, Selena Gomez & the Scene.

In 2016, Gomez talked about being disappointed that she missed out on prom in an interview with Australian radio station Nova 96.9.

"I wanted to go to prom and people are like, 'Oh, you'd be disappointed.' But I was like, 'I want to go to prom!'" she said (via Teen Vogue.) She added that she "sometimes" feels like she missed out on what life might have been if she wasn't a child star, but said that she doesn't "know any different." She explained, "There's a balance to life that I think is normal and I think what we do and what I love is, for me, normal. But it isn't actually when you look at it."

Her fiancé, on the other hand, attended prom twice when he was a teen. "Usually you’re supposed to go as a senior, but I got invited when I was younger," he told Hudson. "One time I went with a friend, like we went in a friend group. And then one time I went with a girlfriend."

But, his most recent prom—his 37th birthday prom as a newly engaged man—was his favorite.

"Honestly, my favorite prom was with my partner. She didn’t even know—she was like, 'What am I supposed to wear? What am I supposed to do?' It was like she was really going to prom. I got her a corsage."

No word on if there was a wild afterparty at someone's parents' house or if they grinded to "Get Low" by Lil Jon.

Lia Beck is a writer living in Brooklyn, NY, who covers entertainment, celebrity, and lifestyle. The former celebrity news editor at Bustle, she has also written for Refinery29, Hello Giggles, Cosmopolitan, PEOPLE, Entertainment Weekly, and more.