Selena Gomez Alludes to Heartbreak Over Justin Bieber in Rare Interview

“When I was going through a heartbreak, I immediately, you know, wrote my best music.”

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selena gomez with slicked back hair
(Image credit: Axelle/Bauer-Griffin/Getty)

Selena Gomez is having a big week: Just yesterday she released her new song, “Single Soon”—her first new music since 2021. After using audio from Sex and the City’s Samantha Jones to tease her new track, Kim Cattrall (who, of course, plays Samantha) responded with her approval. And, per Access, in a rare interview the multihyphenate got candid about mental health and alludes to past heartbreak as her relationship with Justin Bieber disintegrated.

Speaking in an interview for the Twilio SIGNAL 2023 Conference on Thursday, Gomez joined Twilio’s chief marketing officer Joyce Kim for the vulnerable conversation about her life, and opened up about how her personal experiences have influenced the work she does.

Selena Gomez at an event

(Image credit: Getty)

“When I was going through a heartbreak, I immediately, you know, wrote my best music and wanted to be there for every woman or a man or whoever, you know, going through that journey,” Gomez said. “And then there was a kidney transplant I walked through, all these things that may seem like they could bring someone down. I try my hardest to say [at] least they’re not alone, and, if I keep going, hopefully that means someone else can keep going ‘cause I don’t want to always do it. But I want to for them more so than myself at times.”

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Selena Gomez attends the 27th Annual Critics Choice Awards at Fairmont Century Plaza on March 13, 2022 in Los Angeles, California.

(Image credit: Axelle/Bauer-Griffin/FilmMagic)

Gomez—who, in addition to working on her forthcoming album SG3, is starring in the Hulu hit Only Murders in the Building and running a beauty brand, Rare Beauty—said “I’m a work in progress, and it’s just one day at a time.”

Selena Gomez at an event

(Image credit: Getty)

Marie Claire reported recently on the music Gomez is creating: “The music I’m doing right now is about real things that I’m walking through,” she told Vanity Fair earlier this year. “It’s really powerful, strong, very pop. The theme generally is freedom—freedom from relationships, freedom from the darkness. If I had my way, I would probably write ballads my whole life, but I want to produce music that will make people smile.”

Gomez, who turned 31 earlier this summer, is, as Marie Claire reported on recently, “prioritizing her mental health” and “eliminating any toxicity.” Her music matters to her too, of course, and in the interview Thursday she disclosed her favorite song from her catalog, and, as Access reports, it’s a song many think is about her ex-boyfriend Bieber—“Lose You to Love Me.” 

Rachel Burchfield
Rachel Burchfield
Senior Celebrity and Royals Editor

Rachel Burchfield is a writer, editor, and podcaster whose primary interests are fashion and beauty, society and culture, and, most especially, the British Royal Family and other royal families around the world. She serves as Marie Claire’s Senior Celebrity and Royals Editor and has also contributed to publications like Allure, Cosmopolitan, Elle, Glamour, Harper’s Bazaar, InStyle, People, Vanity Fair, Vogue, and W, among others. Before taking on her current role with Marie Claire, Rachel served as its Weekend Editor and later Royals Editor. She is the cohost of Podcast Royal, a show that was named a top five royal podcast by The New York Times. A voracious reader and lover of books, Rachel also hosts I’d Rather Be Reading, which spotlights the best current nonfiction books hitting the market and interviews the authors of them. Rachel frequently appears as a media commentator, and she or her work has appeared on outlets like NBC’s Today Show, ABC’s Good Morning America, CNN, and more.