Francia Raisa showed up to Selena Gomez’s inaugural Rare Impact Fund gala and dished about her relationship with Sel—including how they met and the recent speculation about drama in their friendship.
Speaking with Extra, Francia said that they met when she was on Secret Life of the American Teenager and Selena was on Wizards of Waverly Place. Apparently, Disney arranged for their talent to go to the Children’s Hospital to visit kids, and they ended up in the same group.
“She came up to me and was like, ‘My mom had a teenage pregnancy, she was 16 years old, and we love your show.’ I was like, ‘Oh, my God, thank you! I love your show.’ We started talking, we both had boyfriends at the time, we started kiki-ing… Around the time that my boyfriend and I broke up, and her and her boyfriend broke up, she called me and was like, ‘I am going through some stuff… I am going through a breakup.’ I was like, ‘Girl, me, too,’ and we were just inseparable after that ever since.”
Francia ended up donating her kidney to Selena and they grew even closer—but ended up having what seemed—at least to fans—to be some drama along the way.
“We trauma-bonded, which is beautiful, but also it can get rocky and tricky….People grow, relationships change. Obviously, I treat her like my little sister, she treats me like her older sister… I don’t know any relationship that’s perfect… When our situation came up… No, I never pictured that, but obviously I never regretted it. I am happy that we are here today, celebrating and supporting each other.”
She went on to note that, “Sometimes, I feel people need to spend time apart in order to grow. We had to almost go on our own journey and grow… I am really happy in my career now and my endeavor. I don’t know if I would be able to do that if I didn’t really take some time for myself and figure out what the hell was going on with me, because I wasn’t okay. I am okay now, and just for the record, it had nothing to do with the kidney.”
Francia also said that she and Selena are closer now that they’re both in their 30s, confessing “I am a different person today than I was last year or even when I turned 30. I’m 35 now. Even when Selena turned 30, I’m like, ‘It’s different, isn’t it?’ and she was like, ‘Yeah.’ I said, ‘Welcome to your 30s. Now we can get to know each other again.”
Love this for them!
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