As teenage sensations, Taylor Swift and Selena Gomez captured the spotlight while strolling through New York City, hand in hand, as photographers eagerly snapped away. The scene unfolded during a memorable double date with brothers Joe and Nick Jonas, marking the early days of their blossoming friendship.
This iconic moment transpired in the summer of 2008. Although their romantic entanglements with the Jonas brothers came to an end, Gomez fondly reflected that their friendship was ‘the best thing we got out of those relationships.’
Through the ensuing years, navigating the challenges of public life only served to strengthen their connection, evolving to the point where Swift and Gomez now describe their relationship as akin to being ‘sisters.’
A confidante of Swift, aged 36, shared with the Daily Mail, ‘Taylor and Selena are incredibly close, like sisters. For nearly two decades, they’ve supported each other in personal and professional ventures. Taylor knows she can rely on Selena with complete trust, a bond that remains unshaken.’
Their connection runs so deep that it’s no surprise they aspire to experience parenthood together. They’ve even pledged to act as godparents for each other’s future children, further testament to their enduring friendship.
‘Taylor and Selena have agreed they want to have their babies as close time wise to each other as possible so they can bring them up together,’ our insider said. ‘They’ve essentially made a pact that they will be godmother to each other’s children.’
Selena Gomez and Taylor Swift have decided to be godparents to their respective future children, insiders have told the Daily Mail (pictured together in 2024)
The move is ‘a huge slap in the face to Blake Lively’ (pictured) whose children James, 11, Inez, nine, and Betty, six, were Swift’s goddaughters until she recently rescinded the title, insiders told us
Such a pact, the insider said, is ‘a huge slap in the face to Blake Lively’ whose kids James, 11, Inez, nine, Betty, six, and Olin, three, were Swift’s godchildren until she recently rescinded the title.
Last month, the Daily Mail was told that Swift felt she had ‘no choice’ but to ‘remove herself’ from the position after her decade-long friendship with Lively was severed, seemingly beyond repair, after the actress dragged Swift into her legal battle with her It Ends with us co-star Justin Baldoni.
Swift first confirmed her godparent title back in July 2024 in an Instagram post hyping up Lively’s husband Ryan Reynolds, 49, and the release of his movie, Deadpool & Wolverine. But her role in their lives long pre-dated the public acknowledgement, with the singer namechecking the girls in her music, hosting them at her $17 million Rhode Island mansion, taking them trick-or-treating and even using James’ baby voice at the beginning of her song Gorgeous.
But even if Lively and Swift’s friendship was still solid, it is unlikely Lively and her children would have spent time with Swift, Gomez and their respective children, given that Lively and Gomez have seemingly never been seen together with the Cruel Summer singer.
By the time 38-year-old Lively entered Swift’s orbit in 2015, Gomez had already been the singer’s friend for years. But Swift’s birthday bashes, Fourth of July parties, NFL game appearances and New Years Eve celebrations, to name but a few, have only ever been attended by Lively or Gomez – never both. In fact, there do not seem to be any photographs of the trio.
Most recently, Gomez attended Swift’s New York City wedding to Travis Kelce – Lively did not.
Lively and Swift were friends for a decade before the Gossip Girl actress’ legal battle with Baldoni
Swift, 36, and Gomez, 34, first struck up a friendship around 2008 when Swift was dating Joe Jonas and Gomez his brother Nick (pictured together in 2012)
‘For almost 20 years they’ve been there for each other on a personal and professional level,’ said one insider. ‘Selena’s always been someone Taylor can trust 100 percent. They have a bond that’s never been broken’ (pictured together in 2013)
Over the past decade, Gomez, who is a godmother to her cousin Priscilla’s two children, has seemingly only ever made one reference to Lively, and there is no evidence of Lively ever mentioning Gomez.
In a 2016 interview with Elle magazine, Gomez was asked who of her friends she would ‘trade her with’ if she had the chance. She named Lively.
‘I wish she was my friend, but she’s not my friend,’ she said. ‘Blake Lively. I’ve never met her, but I just love her hair. I think she’s got beautiful, effortless hair. I think she’s super beachy.’
It would seem that those feelings, however, have waned, with the Daily Mail exposing their apparent bad blood in April 2024. At the time, insiders claimed that the two were not friends, didn’t ‘mix’ and were ‘constantly avoiding run-ins with each other.’
But for all the tension between Gomez and Lively – and the breakdown of Swift’s friendship with the It Ends With Us star – a second insider insisted that Swift choosing to make Gomez the godmother of her children ‘wouldn’t be done to shade Blake.’
‘Taylor is very confident in her friendship with Selena and doesn’t worry about having any falling out,’ the source said.
‘If Selena has kids, Taylor knows for a fact that she would be close to them all forever.’
After all, Swift once said herself that ‘longevity is something you really can find very precious and rare in friendships’ when asked about her bond with Gomez.
So fierce is her love for the Rare Beauty founder, she said: ‘There has always been this quality of sisterhood, and I don’t say that in a basic way. I knew from when I met her, I would always have her back. In my life, I have the ability to forgive people who have hurt me. But I don’t know if I can forgive someone who hurts her.’
Clearly longevity and an ability to forgive are traits reserved for Gomez and apparently not extended to Lively.
And for her part, Gomez has never shied away from expressing her love and appreciation for Swift, once joking that she was risking the wrath of her best friend when she paid her an impromptu tribute after joining her on her Eras Tour.
‘This person has never ever judged a single decision I’ve made,’ Gomez said to thousands of screaming Swifties. ‘She’s always met me where I’ve been. She’s encouraged me when I’ve had nothing to be encouraged about, and I don’t know if I would be as strong as I am if I didn’t have you and your family because you’ve changed my life. And – she’s going to kill me after – but honestly, thank you for the bottom of my heart for supporting someone who I know is the most beautiful, strong, independent woman I’ve ever met. So thank you as a best friend.’
Perhaps one such occasion was helping Gomez with fertility struggles.
Gomez and her husband Benny Blanco (pictured) will use a surrogate, after the singer opened up about how she cannot carry her own child, during an interview with Vanity Fair in 2024
Gomez and Swift (pictured with Kelce) – who is godmother to actress and model Jaime King’s ten-year-old son Leo Newman – are said to be ‘looking forward to sharing the experience of having their first child around the same time’
The actress, who married Benny Blanco in September last year, told Vanity Fair in 2024 that she had to ‘grieve’ not being able to carry a child.
‘I thought it would happen the way it happens for everyone,’ she said at the time. ‘[But] I’m in a much better place with that. I find it a blessing that there are wonderful people willing to do surrogacy or adoption, which are both huge possibilities for me.’
She added: ‘I’m excited for what that journey will look like, but it’ll look a little different. At the end of the day, I don’t care. It’ll be mine. It’ll be my baby.’
Gomez, who was diagnosed with lupus in 2013, and 38-year-old Blanco are said to be looking for a surrogate, which prompts the question: Are Swift and Kelce planning to start a family soon, too?
‘Taylor and Selena are looking forward to sharing the experience of having their first child around the same time,’ said our first insider.
And with no tour planned for Swift and 36-year-old Kelce eyeing retirement after this season, they said the coming months could be the perfect time for the best pals to think about starting families.
‘The timing works perfectly all around,’ they said.
The Daily Mail has contacted representatives for Swift and Gomez for comment.