Selena Gomez on Benny Blanco Wanting to Marry and Have Kids With Her: ‘He Can’t Lie to Save His Life’

Selena Gomez won’t give as much detail as her boyfriend, Benny Blanco, will about the hopes she has for their future, but she will say one thing: The couple of almost a year absolutely has a future.

In a new cover story for Time, Gomez was asked about Blanco’s recent Howard Stern interview, where he said he could see himself marrying and having kids with Gomez. “He can’t lie to save his life,” she quipped. “If he’s asked a question, he’ll answer it.”

She added that she is less forthcoming about her personal life to protect her loved ones: “I know what people can do to people I love. My own fans, who I adore and feel like have shaped who I am, will say the most hurtful things to me about how I live my life. But he has the strength in him that none of that noise fazes him. It’s really impressive, and I just cherish every moment with him.”

She then offered her own tease on the couple’s long-term potential: “I don’t know what the future holds, but I do know that he’s not going anywhere anytime soon.”

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Gomez also addressed the five years she was single before dating him, saying she had plans to start a family on her own in a few years even if she wasn’t in a relationship.

The difference of having a partner is “a little irrelevant, only because he isn’t my only source of happiness,” she began. “I was alone for five years, and I got really used to it. A lot of people are afraid of being alone and I probably tortured myself in my head for like two years being alone, and then I kind of accepted it. Then I came up with my plan, which was I was going to adopt at 35 if I had not met anyone.”

Gomez offered a little detail on the beginning of their love story, saying the two started as friends. She asked him to set her up with someone, so he took her to a party to meet a friend of his. In a rom-com moment, she realized he was the person she was actually interested in. She told Time, “It just happens when you least expect it.”

Blanco spoke to Stern earlier this month about how he didn’t even realize he was on a first date with Gomez when they did eventually go out. He recalled, “She was like, ‘Hey, you wanna hang out?’ And I was like, ‘Yeah.’ We go and we hang out, and I remember we were talking. And she’s like so—she’s such a forward person, and she’s like the coolest, the nicest, the sweetest, everything—and I remember sitting there, and she’s like, ‘Well, I would have worn something different for this date,’ and I was like, ‘What? We’re on a date?’ And then before I know it, we’re hanging out the next day and the next day and the next day!”

When asked if he had plans to propose to Gomez, Blanco avoided the question, saying instead, “When I look at her, I do say, I’m always just like, ‘I don’t know a world where it could be better than this.’”

Stern asked if Blanco had a ring for Gomez. Blanco replied, “I don’t have anything. I’ve got no shoes on. I’ve got to get my act together.”