Selena Gomez stopped by The Ellen Show to speak about her latest project, the defiant Rare, her first solo project in five years. But Gomez was in for a surprise when Jennifer Aniston was sitting in Ellen’s chair. Gomez spoke about being a major fan of Friends, meeting Aniston for the first time, and the vulnerability of her songwriting on Rare.
Jennifer Aniston had the job of interviewing Gomez on Ellen. “First of all, I promise I’m not going to scare you,” Aniston began, pulling up a previous photo of Gomez on Ellen. “I know that Ellen does that to you and, just trust me, I hate it too.”
During the interview, Gomez admitted Friends is one of her favorite shows. “Are you guys kidding me? Rachel was my life.” Gomez recounted the story of her first time meeting the Friends star, though Aniston didn’t recall the details. “Well, nobody knew who I was, and you were in the bathroom wearing a black dress,” Gomez explained. “I think we were at, like, Vanity Fair, something, event and I was there with my mom. And I walked into the bathroom and I saw you…and my heart, like, stopped…you were everything that I wanted.”
The conversation quickly turned to Gomez’s music. The singer revealed that she was nervous about the album’s reception because she hadn’t released solo music in several years, but was validated when her album premiered at No. 1. “The album has validated the fact that I do know I’m a real artist.” Gomez added, “I worked my ass off.” Aniston complimented Gomez’s intimate songwriting, saying her fans responded to her authenticity in vulnerability. “When I was younger, I thought it was weakness to be vulnerable, to share my heart with people. And I realized that everybody else seemed to be narrating my life for me. So why don’t I put something out that is my side of the story that’s not hateful or anything? It’s simply a beautiful moment to let go of and I was really, really proud of it.”
Watch Jennifer Aniston interview Selena Gomez on Ellen above.
Rare is out now via Interscope. Get it here.
