Selena Gomez and Benny Blanco Wore Disguises on Their "Best Date Ever"

If you thought you saw Selena at the Santa Monica Pier two years ago, this one's for you.

Selena Gomez laughing and Benny Blanco kissing her hand at the Second Annual Rare Impact Fund Benefit in October 2024
Selena Gomez and Benny Blanco goofing around at an event for her Rare Impact Fund in October 2024.
(Image credit: Getty Images)

A lot of people witnessed one of Selena Gomez and Benny Blanco's early dates without even realizing it. As part of the Spotify series "Countdown To", Gomez and Blanco filmed conversations about their personal lives and about putting together their joint album, I Said I Love You First. At one point—while driving around in a retro convertible—the engaged couple talked about their "best date ever", which involved wearing disguises so they could have a fun day without anyone recognizing them.

"Definitely our best date ever—well, there’s a lot of things competing," Blanco started. "But when I think of our best date ever is, like, when we were first dating and we were still keeping it super secret, I remember I was like, 'Lets go to the Santa Monica Pier.' And you were like, 'We can’t go to the Santa Monica Pier.' And I was like, 'Well, what if we dress up in disguises?'"

Gomez added that disguises "usually never work," but they tried out the plan anyway because, as Blanco put it, "We were so scared of people finding out about us."

It turned out to be a great success, as both musicians happily reminisced. (Unfortunately, they didn't share what their disguises involved.)

"I remember having so much fun being with you, because we could just fully let go and not worry about anything else," Blanco said. "We rode the Ferris wheel. We got corn dogs and cotton candy."

"It was so cute," Gomez agreed. "I'm not going to lie, sometimes the disguise thing is so stupid, but in this case it actually worked, which was crazy. I really didn’t care, I was so happy, I was in a state of ecstasy. It was so fun."

Countdown To I Said I Love You First: Selena Gomez & benny blanco In Conversation | Spotify - YouTube Countdown To I Said I Love You First: Selena Gomez & benny blanco In Conversation | Spotify - YouTube
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Also in the "Countdown To" video, Blanco and Gomez talked about how they started dating in the first place. It happened around the time that they were working together on her 2023 song "Single Soon", which Blanco produced. Blanco shared that initially, he wanted to set her up with one of his friends, but he soon realized that she had a crush on him and that he felt the same way.

Early on, when they were flirting via text, Gomez sent him photos of herself that she found unattractive on purpose.

"It was a joke, because I was like, 'Oh, I look shitty in the photo,' so I sent you all the worst pictures of myself,'" Gomez explained. Blanco responded, "I liked it."

"What girl would send the ugliest photos of themselves to someone they like?" the Emilia Pérez actor went on. "The love of my life would," Blanco answered. Yep, you can really see how these two ended up together.

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.