Selena Gomez Praises “Best Friend” Francia Raísa Nearly 6 Years After Kidney Donation

Some friendships are nothing short of lifesavers.

More than five years ago, Selena Gomez received a second chance at life when Francia Raísa voluntarily donated a kidney to help with her close friend’s Lupus battle. Now, the “Same Old Love” singer is reiterating just how selfless the act was from her “best friend.”

“I will never ever, ever be more in debt to a person than Francia,” Selena shared in the March 10 episode of Apple TV+’s Dear… “The idea of someone not even second-guessing to be a donor was unbelievably overwhelming.”

Selena recalled the moment Francia agreed to get tested to see if she could be helpful. Within three days, the pair discovered they were a match.

“It was one of those moments where I felt watched over,” Selena explained. “I know I was so, so, so lucky. I understand that that doesn’t happen for a lot of people and I know the outcome of some of those situations and how serious they are, so I do not take it lightly that it’s happened to me that way.”

Since the donation in June 2017, Selena and Francia have each received matching tattoos with the date of the kidney transplant.

Selena also publicly thanked Francia while accepting Billboard’s 2017 Woman of the Year award at the Billboard’s Women in Music event.

“To be honest,” she said, “I think Francia should be getting this award because she saved my life.”

But last year, Selena faced criticism from some fans who thought she wasn’t giving her friendship with Francia enough attention.

After Selena told Rolling Stone in November 2022 she considers Taylor Swift to be her “only friend” in the industry, Francia allegedly commented on an E! News Instagram post about the story writing “interesting” in a since-deleted comment.

Selena later commented on a TikTok saying, “Sorry I didn’t mention every person I know.”

While it’s unclear when Selena’s episode of Dear… was filmed, the singer made it clear in the episode she is grateful for the journey she has been on with Francia.

“I think it had to happen the way that it did in order for me to get to where I am,” Selena said. “I was meant to go through it to do something for others.”