Late-night calls.
Secret meetups. Shared passions. Inside Selena Gomez and Justin Theroux’s surprising
relationship
Selena Gomez looked absolutely thrilled. On May
6, she met up with a group of famous friends at the Minetta Lane Theatre in
NYC’s West Village to catch the off-Broadway play Harry Clarke. As she said
goodbye to everyone outside the theater that day including actress Rooney
Mara, artist-model pal Petra Collins and Paul Rudd and his wife Selena saved
an especially enthusiastic embrace for the sexy single guy in the group: Justin
Theroux. They started out as friends. Now, Life & Style has exclusively
learned,Justin and Selena’s relationship has taken an unexpected turn into
something more serious. “They’ve known each other for years through their
manager,” explains a source. “Initially, they leaned on each other for
emotional support after going through messy breakups.” Justin announced his
split from wife Jennifer Aniston in February while Selena parted ways again
with pop star Justin Bieber in March. In recent weeks, though, “they’ve become
closer than ever,” says the source. “It’s turned into something more than
friendship.” Despite a 21-year age difference (he’s 46, she’s 25!), says an
insider, “Selena and Justin are falling for each other.”
DRAWN TOGETHER
Justin’s been having the time of his life since
he and Jen, 49, ended their two-year marriage. The actor, who loathed the LA
scene, immediately moved back to NYC, where’s he’s been riding his bike around
town, hitting hot parties like the Met Gala and spending time with edgy,
beautiful, younger women. “He’s not looking back or mourning the end of his
marriage. He’s enjoying his freedom and living his best life,” the source close
to him tells Life & Style. He was briefly linked to 33-year old Parks and
Recreation star Aubrey Plaza, the source says, and has also been spending time with
artist-model Petra, 25, who directed one of Selena’s music videos, his Maniac
co-star Emma Stone, 29, and model Erika Cardenas, 25, whom he met at his
gym.
But whenever he’s around Selena, notes the first
source, “sparks fly.” They’ve been having a lot of one-on-one conversations
lately, and they talk about everything. “They Face Time and text late at night
and have intimate conversations about where they’re going in life and their
career goals,” says the source. “They’re extremely honest, open and comfortable
with each other. They’ve even discussed how they adore babies and how they’d
each love to become a parent one day.” They’ve also confessed a mutual
admiration for one another’s work. “Selena’s praised Justin for his writing and
acting - she was a huge fan of his HBO series The Leftovers,” says the insider,
“and Justin’s encouraged her to use her gifts as a singer more and given her
tips on how to negotiate the acting world.
ODD COUPLE
At first glance, they seem like a bizarre
pairing. For one thing, there’s that enormous age gap (awkwardly enough,
Selena’s almost exactly half Jen’s age). And edgy New Yorker Justin and the
former Disney Channel starlet seem to be from totally different worlds. But
Justin’s been spending time exclusively with creative, funny younger women
since splitting from Jen. And Justin’s exactly the kind of guy Selena’s been
looking for. “I’d be so stoked with a writer or producer or actor who is
low-key,” she said in 2016, a description that fits Justin perfectly. Selena thinks
he’s “mature” and “cool,” the source adds. They’ve discovered a shared passion
for shelter dogs as well as fashion and accessories, explains the insider, who
says they’ve hung out together in LA and NYC. Though the source believes
nothing physical has happened, “judging from the amount of flirting that goes
on, it’s only a matter of time before they take things to the next level.”
THE ULTIMATE BETRAYAL
Friends think that ’s a mistake and warn that if
Justin and Selena become a full-fledged couple, it will end badly. After all,
Selena, Justin and Jen all share the same manager, Aleen Keshishian and
Jen, who views Selena as a friend (see box, opposite page), is already aware
that her ex and the pop star-actress have been hanging out. “Jen,” says the source
“is not happy about it.”
She took Selena, who she’s called “a little
cherub that I feel like I want to take care of,” under her wing years ago after
they were introduced by their management team. She felt flattered after
learning Selena was one of her greatest admirers. But Selena’s fascination with
Jen bordered on creepy. “The whole reason I started my show [Wizards of Waverly
Place] and mannerisms, they were after Jennifer Aniston,” Selena confessed in
2009, adding that she’d been studying Jen’s career since she was 8 and also
viewed her as her personal style icon. At 16, Selena admitted that pals had
accused her of being “obsessed” with the Friends star after she recited
dialogue from Jen’s TV and film work during an awards show honoring her.
If Selena goes public with a romance with
Justin, friends worry it’ll seem like she wasn’t just obsessed with Jen’s life,
but actually stole it. “Part of her attraction to Justin is knowing how much
Jen loved him,” reveals the insider. “The fact that the woman she
idolized so much prized him only makes Justin all that more appealing.” If
Jen knew how close Selena and Justin really are now, adds the insider, “she’d
be horrified. She’d think of it as a complete betrayal on both their parts.”
HEATING UP
The “Hands to Myself” singer can’t help herself.
“She finds Justin to be a breath of fresh air after going through such
turbulent times with her other Justin [Bieber, whom she dated on and off since
2011],” says the source. “Selena will always carry a torch for her ex, but
right now, Justin [Theroux] is helping her take her mind off things.”
Next up for Selena and Justin 2.0? The pair have
discussed meeting up in secret, where they won’t be photographed together and
put under the microscope, says the source. It’s another sign, says the insider,
that what started out as a genuine friendship “is progressing into something
far more significant.”
From: LIFEANDSTYLEMAG.COM