Selena Gomez and The Weeknd’s romance took them to Florence, Toronto, Buenos Aires and beyond before ultimately ending in a “remarkable” way in October 2017.
Gomez and The Weeknd (né Abel Tesfaye) dated for 10 months, connecting two months after his split from on-off girlfriend Bella Hadid and soon after Gomez’s split from Justin Bieber. They each went on to rekindle their respective relationships with Hadid and Bieber after their split, although those relationships have also since ended.
While dating, Gomez and The Weeknd enjoyed an international romance, traveling around the world together for the R&B singer’s Starboy: Legend of the Fall tour.
In the summer of 2017, Gomez quietly underwent a kidney transplant as a result of her battle with Lupus, she later revealed, and The Weeknd reportedly scheduled his tour dates around the surgery to be there for her as she recovered.
Here’s a look back at everything there is to know about the pair’s romance, from their first date to their red carpet debut to parting ways as “best friends.”
November 10, 2015: Selena Gomez and The Weeknd meet at the Victoria’s Secret Fashion ShowJamie McCarthy/Getty
The musicians reportedly first met at the 2015 Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show, where they both performed. The occasion marked the first time they were photographed together. At the time, The Weeknd was dating Hadid, while Gomez was newly reunited with Bieber.
January 10, 2017: Selena Gomez and The Weeknd are spotted on a romantic dinner date
Just over a year later, following their respective splits from their partners, Gomez and The Weeknd couldn’t seem to keep their hands to themselves. The singers were spotted kissing over a romantic dinner at Giorgio Baldi restaurant in Los Angeles.
A source told PEOPLE at the time, “it’s new and nothing serious.”
January 27, 2017: Selena Gomez and The Weeknd rent out Dave & Buster’s
Their date nights ranged from sultry to silly, with the pair renting out a Dave & Buster’s in L.A. with pals French Montana and Jaden Smith for a night at the arcade later that month.
“They looked very happy. They had a blast with their friends,” a source told PEOPLE about the couple, who were spotted holding hands and leaving around 3 a.m.
January 29, 2017: Selena Gomez and The Weeknd jet off to Italy
The pair flew to Italy together a few weeks after their first date. While in Florence, they were seen holding hands during a visit to the Galleria dell’Accademia museum before enjoying lunch together at a local restaurant.
January 2017: Selena Gomez and The Weeknd make their romance Instagram officialSelena Gomez Instagram
During their Italy trip, Gomez made their relationship Instagram official, sharing a since-deleted clip of the “Starboy” singer in a riverboat, captioning the black-and-white video with a heart-eyes emoji.
The Weeknd also shared videos from their weekend together on Instagram, including a clip on his Story of Gomez looking at a piece of art.
February 2017: Selena Gomez shows support for The Weeknd on his European tour
The “Revival” singer attended several of her boyfriend’s European concerts, sharing photos from the VIP area on her Instagram and Snapchat while at his show in Zurich and Amsterdam.
March 17, 2017: The Weeknd brings Selena Gomez to his hometown of Toronto
On the heels of their European adventure, the pair took a trip to Toronto, where the “Earned It” singer is from. While there, they were spotted kissing and holding hands while out and about in the city. The couple also rented out a movie theatre for a private screening of Get Out.
March 2017: Selena Gomez joins The Weeknd in South America during his tour
The jet-setting pair then made their way to South America for The Weeknd’s tour. The duo visited Colombia and Brazil before heading to Argentina, where they explored Buenos Aires together.
April 16, 2017: Selena Gomez shares a sweet selfie of her and The Weeknd at CoachellaSelena Gomez/Instagram
Gomez and The Weeknd didn’t shy away from sharing their love with fans, continuing to post sweet snaps together on Instagram. In April, Gomez posted a smiling selfie of the pair at Coachella, where they cuddled up while watching performances during the day. The caption-less shot racked up over five million likes in a matter of hours.
May 1, 2017: Selena Gomez and The Weeknd make things red carpet official at the Met GalaTaylor Hill/FilmMagic
The pair made their red carpet debut as a couple at the 2017 Met Gala. Gomez got glammed up in a cream Coach gown and pink eye shadow, while The Weeknd kept things classic in a fitted tux.
Gomez and The Weeknd posted photos on Instagram from their ultra-stylish date night, which received enthusiastic comments from fans, friends and even Gomez’s mom, Mandy Teefey.
“Glowing, smiling, looking health and equal love,” she wrote from her account Kicked to the Curb Productions, which produced Netflix’s hit 13 Reasons Why. “Mama is happy XO.”
May 8, 2017: Selena Gomez takes her family to The Weeknd’s concert
Days after Gomez’s mom gave the couple her seal of approval, the singer brought her relatives to The Weeknd’s show in Dallas, which is near where the Only Murders in the Building star grew up in Grand Prairie, Texas.
Gomez was joined at the Starboy: Legend of the Fall show by her cousin, Priscilla DeLeon, and her nephew, Aiden. Priscilla posted a photo of the trio on the day of the show, captioning the shot, “Still got it,” as well as a photo of herself backstage wearing a VIP laminate.
May 23, 2017: Rumors spread that Selena Gomez and The Weeknd are working on a collaborationGotham/GC Images
Eagle-eyed fans were delighted when it seemed like a collaboration between the couple was perhaps in the near future. At the time, The Weeknd’s name was listed under Gomez’s single “In Her Element” on the Wikipedia page of songwriter Max Martin, according to ELLE, which prompted the speculation. Ultimately, they never released a song together.
June 9, 2017: Selena Gomez explains why she decided to take her relationship with The Weeknd public
During an interview with On Air with Ryan Seacrest, Gomez opened up about balancing her desire for privacy in her relationship with her public-facing life.
“It’s really hard when I would want to spend so much time hiding things,” Gomez said. “It’s too much pressure, and I think everyone gets over everything eventually … I just want to be happy. If that’s me just being myself, then I don’t really care.”
July 22, 2017: The Weeknd flies from Paris to celebrate Selena Gomez’s birthday
Immediately following his headlining Lollapalooza set in Paris, the “Starboy” singer left the French capital via private jet in order to meet Gomez in L.A. to celebrate her 25th birthday. The couple were spotted grabbing brunch in Calabasas that day before heading to Soho House’s Little Beach House Malibu for a dinner with Gomez’s friends.
“Selena and The Weeknd seem great,” an insider told PEOPLE. “He has been touring so they haven’t spent much time together. After Saturday night’s concert, he jetted straight back to L.A. so he could celebrate Selena’s birthday on Sunday. Selena seemed very excited. They had a fun birthday dinner with friends at Soho House on Sunday night.”
September 5, 2017: Selena Gomez and The Weeknd cozy up over Labor Day in New York CitySean ONeill/PacificCoastNews.
The pair spent the holiday weekend together in New York City, where they were spotted out and about and dining at Japanese restaurant Nobu. Gomez shared a sweet photo on Instagram of the pair cozied up in a booth on a date.
September 2017: PEOPLE reports that The Weeknd planned his tour dates around Selena Gomez’s kidney transplant
In September, Gomez opened up about having quietly undergone a kidney transplant over the summer as a result of her ongoing battle with Lupus. A source later told PEOPLE that The Weeknd was by his girlfriend’s side throughout the recovery, scheduling his performances around her surgery so that he could be there for her as much as possible.
October 30, 2017: Selena Gomez and The Weeknd break up
In late October 2017, multiple sources confirmed to PEOPLE that the musicians had ended their relationship.
“She and Abel have been going back and forth for a few months about their relationship,” an insider said. “It’s been hard with him being on tour and her shooting in New York. That wasn’t easy on them.”
While Gomez “always made an effort” to attend his shows when she could, “that played a part in them getting distant,” added the insider. “It’s over for now, but they’re still in touch.” The source added that things had “been hard for months” and that the breakup wasn’t easy for either of them.
The insider also denied that Gomez was back together with Bieber, whom she was seen attending church with a few days before news of her split broke. She and Bieber did go on to rekindle their relationship for a few months, albeit unofficially.
November 30, 2017: Selena Gomez says she and The Weeknd split “as best friends”Matt Winkelmeyer/Getty / Theo Wargo/Getty
Speaking out about the split for the first time, Gomez told Billboard that she was “really proud” of the “remarkable” way things ended between her and The Weeknd.
“Something that I’m really proud of is that there’s such a true friendship [between me and The Weeknd],” she told the outlet. “I truly have never experienced anything like that in my life. We ended it as best friends, and it was genuinely about encouraging and caring [for each other], and that was pretty remarkable for me.”
March 30, 2018: The Weeknd releases new music, seemingly inspired by Selena Gomez
The R&B star dropped his 6-track EP, My Dear Melancholy, five months after his split from Gomez. Fans were quick to read into the lyrics of each track, believing that Gomez was referenced in “Call Out My Name” in lyrics like “We found each other/ I helped you out of a broken place/ You gave me comfort/ But falling for you was my mistake.”
In the same track, other lyrics had fans wondering if The Weeknd had considered donating a kidney to Gomez when she needed a transplant the prior year. “I said I didn’t feel nothing baby, but I lied/ I almost cut a piece of myself for your life/ Guess I was just another pit stop/ Til’ you made up your mind/ You just wasted my time/ You’re on top,” he sang.
February 24, 2022: Selena Gomez shuts down rumors of bad blood with The Weeknd’s new love interest
Nearly five years after his split from Gomez, The Weeknd was spotted spending time with Simi Khadra, of DJ twin sister duo Simi & Haze. Fans quickly wondered whether this would cause tension between Simi and Gomez, who are longtime friends (Simi is also close to The Weeknd’s other ex, Hadid — who appeared to unfollow her on Instagram after news of their romance broke).
Gomez was quick to set the record straight, sharing a photo to Instagram of herself hanging out with Simi & Haze a few days after the DJ was seen kissing her ex. “Since 2013,” she captioned the snap of the trio spending time together.
August 27, 2023: Selena Gomez denies speculation that her song “Single Soon” is about The Weeknd
Shortly after Gomez released her song “Single Soon,” HollywoodLife fueled speculation that the track was written about The Weeknd.
