Selena Gomez revealed in 2020 that she had been diagnosed with bipolar disorder. Since then, the singer and actor—who also suffers from lupus and previously underwent a kidney transplant— has publicly spoken several times about her condition, including in the 2022 documentary My Mind & Me. She also founded Wondermind, a platform dedicated to mental health. Gomez and her husband Benny Blanco returned to the topic on the debut episode of his new podcast Friends Keep Secrets, explaining how they cope together with her manic episodes. Gomez said that in recent years, after a journey that has included numerous therapists and four different rehabilitation centers, she has learned to quickly recognize the moment when she is about to enter a manic phase, and that Blanco provides a support system.
When he notices that his wife is about to have a crisis, Blanco tries to listen and calm her down. “It’s such a delicate thing,” he said. “You’re not supposed to talk to someone while they’re deep in it.”
“It is helpful to have a partner that will understand where the temperature is at and meet you where you are,” Gomez said. She added that her diagnosis was a liberation: she knows what goes on in her mind and is no longer ashamed of it. On her most difficult days in the past, she tended to isolate herself, and she “knew something was wrong.” In a 2024 interview, she said, “if I’m around people that make me feel good, and make me feel like I can say anything, that always helps me.”
Gomez and Blanco, married since September, are planning for the future despite their difficulties. When it came to the subject of children, the singer said on Friends Keep Secrets, “I want four, but that’s out there.” She said this desire was inspired by the 2005 holiday film The Family Stone, specifically a scene in which a large family gathers for dinner.
When Gomez has spoken about motherhood in the past, she has said that lupus will prevent her from carrying children, but remains optimistic about starting a family. Nevertheless, the dream of becoming a mother is not being given up: “I find it a blessing that there are wonderful people willing to do surrogacy or adoption,” she told Vanity Fair in 2024, “which are both huge possibilities for me.”
Originally published in Vanity Fair Italia.
