Well, it looks like Chrismukkah came early this year: Interfaith celebrity couple Benny Blanco and Selena Gomez are engaged!!
Last night, the 32-year-old pop singer and “Only Murders in the Building” star posted a photo of herself wearing a diamond engagement ring with the caption “forever begins now..” The carousel also included a photo of Selena on a picnic blanket strewn with Taco Bell boxes and champagne in an ice bucket — presumably where the proposal occurred — and a photo of Selena and Benny cuddling post-engagement.
“hey wait… that’s my wife,” Benny jokingly commented. But the 36-year-old Jewish record producer, songwriter and cookbook author wasn’t the only one leaving sweet messages in the comments. Celebrities like Jennifer Aniston, Gwyneth Paltrow, Cardi B and Lil Nas X expressed their congratulations and excitement to the newly engaged couple. Most notably, Taylor Swift wrote, “yes I will be the flower girl.”
The engagement news comes just over one year after Selena publicly confirmed her relationship with Benny via Instagram comments, saying that they had been dating privately for around six months. “He has treated me better than any human being on this planet,” she wrote in one. “He’s still better than anyone I’ve ever been with. Facts,” she shared in another. The couple have known each other since at least 2015, when Benny produced Selena’s songs “Same Old Love” and “Kill ‘Em With Kindness.”
While Selena and Benny been relatively open about their relationship for the past year, one aspect they haven’t touched on publicly is being an interfaith couple. Selena grew up in a Catholic household and in a 2021 interview with Vogue Magazine identified as “a Christian” but “not religious.” Meanwhile, Benny is a self-described “neurotic Jew” who can often be spotted wearing a Star of David. His active participation in Jewish culture is notable, particularly through Jewish food.
Earlier this year, Benny released his cookbook “Open Wide,” which included numerous Jewish recipes like his mom’s kugel and latkes which promise “a 100 percent guarantee of a sexual experience.” “Even more so than actually being religious and going to temple the Jewish cuisine has been such a lubricant bringing my friends and family together in a way that is pretty magical,” he told Hey Alma in April. To celebrate the release of “Open Wide,” Benny and Jewish chefs Jake Cohen and Mike Solomonov hosted an 80s bar mitzvah bash-themed party.
With this upcoming wedding, we at Hey Alma are excited to see how Selena and Benny blend their Mexican-American Catholic and East Coast Jewish backgrounds further. Will the wedding take place in a Catholic Church under a chuppah? Will the party feature a mariachi band playing Hava Nagila? We cannot wait to find out.
Mazel tov, Selena and Benny!!
