Selena Gomez will turn 25 next month, but don't talk to her about a quarter life crisis. Between launching Netflix phenomenon 13 Reasons Why, two singles currently climbing the charts and dating fellow singer The Weeknd, Selena is happy, healthy, in love and not afraid to show it.
"I’m genuinely myself," she shared. "Hiding things...it’s too much pressure. I’m so happy with my music, my health is most important, my family is most important, but at the same time I just want to be happy. So if that’s me just being myself, then I don’t really care.”
Selena's newly public relationship with The Weeknd (whom she quickly dubbed "Abel") is just one element of what the pop star describes as a happier, more relaxed phase of her life. One that apparently also involves eating cheesecake on the way to his show — videos recently surfaced on Instagram — which Selena laughed off and said, "The most random things get picked up... It was magical."
Since the release of her latest single "Bad Liar," fans have speculated that Selena penned the sexy, mid-tempo bop about the couple's budding romance, which she flatly denies. "The song was over a year ago," she explained. "I was very much in a different place and I think it was more just telling the story."
The hot track (which samples Talking Heads iconic "Psycho Killer") also showcases a new tone and direction for Selena's music which she describes as "moody" but unlike everything else she's working on, including her other current hit collab with Kygo, "It Ain't Me."
"I was kinda nervous because we sat on this song for awhile," she revealed. "I didn’t want to follow a theme as much as I just wanted to tell stories. The Kygo song is so different from 'Bad Liar.' What’s to come next is completely different from 'Bad Liar.' So it’s been really fun. I think that’s how music is now...constantly changing. And I wanted something that sounded like nothing else on the radio.”
While the two singles climb the charts this summer, Selena's creative focus shifts to completing her third studio album, out later this year, and developing season 2 of her mega-successful yet controversial Netflix series 13 Reasons Why for which she serves as an executive producer.
"I didn’t expect it to do what it did. It was a bit overwhelming, but in a good way," she remarked of the show's popularity, while also acknowledging its touchy subject matter. "I understand the questions that it brought up, and the stuff that people were talking about, but I think for season 2 we’re gonna answer a lot of those questions. There’s gonna be a lot of resolution, a lot of repercussions for the actions people have done in the show. I think the conversation should be had."
Outside the show Selena has shared openly about her personal struggle with anxiety and depression, and remains at the forefront of advocacy for mental health awareness in addition to several other causes, work that On Air With Ryan Seacrest's Tanya Rad deeply admires.
“I think Selena is one of the most amazing artists on the planet, because of your heart for people," Tanya praised Selena while holding hands in the studio. "She does so much behind the scenes that people don’t see that’s very beautiful. I wish more people were like you."
"Gosh, I'm so emotional!" Selena blushed. "What are you guys doing to me?!"
Bad Liar is available on iTunes.
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Photos: Emily Campbell/iHeartMedia