5 things to know about Benny Blanco, Selena Gomez’s fiance

Selena Gomez is officially engaged to Benny Blanco after more than a year of dating – and the pair have a lot in common.

Just like Gomez, 32, Blanco, 36, has a string of hit songs to her name, including Keshais “Tik Tok” and Katy Perry‘Teenage Dream,’ making him and the Golden Globe nominees a match made in music heaven.

“Forever Begins Now,” Gomez she wrote in a post on Instagram on Wednesday, December 11, she showed off her engagement ring. Blanco celebrated the milestone, writing in the comments section: “Hey wait… that’s my wife.”

Gomez first confirmed her relationship with Blanco in December 2023, revealing they had been together for “six months”.

“He is my absolute everything in my heart,” she wrote at the time in a comment on Instagram. “He (was) the best thing that ever happened to me.” The end. … He’s still better than anybody I’ve been with. The facts.”

Now, as they prepare to walk down the aisle and become one of Hollywood’s next power couples, here’s what you need to know about Benny Blanco:

He was Dr. Luke’s mentor

Blanco was the mentor of the prolific pop music producer Ph.D. Hatchwho has produced hits for the likes of Katy Perry, Kesha, Kelly Clarkson, Pink and Britney Spears. With Luke, Blanco co-produced and wrote Perry’s hit song “Teenage Dream” and Kesha’s “Tik Tok.”

Blanco has worked with A-listers including Ed SheeranKaty Perry, Kesha, Britney Spears, Rihanna and Kanye West. Blanco’s resume also includes songs with two of Gomez’s exes: Justin Bieber and The Weeknd.

Blanco and Gomez first crossed paths in 2015, collaborating on her songs “Same Old Love” and “Kill Em With Kindness.” After reuniting on “I Can’t Get Enough” four years later, Blanco worked with Gomez again in 2023. He helped produce her pop comeback, “Single Soon.”

He originally wanted to be a rapper

Born Benjamin Joseph Levine, Blanco always wanted to be involved in the music industry and initially had his sights set on being a rapper. He said The New York Times in 2018 that he later switched to producing when he realized that “no one cares what a chubby Jewish kid from Virginia thinks.”

“I wouldn’t consider myself anything.” I think I’m a loser,” Blanco admitted of his career NME in April 2021. “I don’t think there’s a world where I’d say, ‘Yeah, man, I’m a hitmaker.’ I’m a guy who comes in and tries to approach music from a place of true feeling and emotion and I really give it my all, because if I’m not, then what am I doing in life?”

Blanco explained that he tries to make music that “doesn’t sound like what’s being played” on the radio, but rather suits each individual artist.

He ran 2 publishing houses

In addition to producing and writing songs, Blanco headed two record labels under the Interscope Records banner. His labels, Mad Love Records and Friends Keep Secrets, used to be home Tory Lanez, Cashmere Cat and Jessie Ware.

“Benny Blanco, he works in really incredible short bursts. I’d be like this militant (person) — ‘We should really be in the studio because it’s 12 o’clock?!’ He’d be like, ‘Chiiiiilll, let’s go to the store,'” Ware said of working with Blanco in a 2014 interview. Grantland. “I was frustrated, and then I realized that’s the way he worked, and it made him work that much more brilliantly.”

He has his own cookbook

Blanco and The Bear star – and real chef – Matty Matheson collaborated on a YouTube series, Matty and Benny Eat Out America2020 and the next show, Stupid fucking cooking showin 2021.

Earlier this year, Blanco published his own cookbook, Open Vide: A cookbook for friendsin which she shares some of her favorite recipes and how to throw a killer dinner party.

The book even has Gomez’s seal of approval. “So proud of @itsbenniblanco – Open Vide is out now!” she common via Instagram in May.

He has been open about his mental health

During an an interview with Howard Stern in May, Blanco opened up about his struggle with anxiety. “I kept it to myself. I thought, ‘Of course, the room turns when you’re about to take a test when you’re 12,'” he said.

“I started doing (cognitive behavioral therapy). It was very important for me to get this tool box. Whenever I had anxious thoughts, I could reach into this little toolbox and help myself overcome them. “I’ve helped a lot of artists and people do that,” he continued.

I struggle with anxiety, I struggle with imposter syndrome, I struggle with all those things,” he added.

Blanco’s fiancee has also been open about her mental health struggles, including in her Apple TV+ documentary, Selena Gomez: My Mind and Me.