Selena Gomez has always been known for her candidness, and during a recent interview on SiriusXM’s TikTok Radio IRLwith Chris Olsen, the singer and actress took the opportunity to reflect on her insecurities, both past and present, and how they shaped her music. In the interview, Gomez discussed her latest album, I Said I Love You First, which she created with her fiancé, Benny Blanco, and shared how her personal struggles inspired the album’s songs, including the track “Younger and Hotter Than Me.”
The album’s opening track is a deeply emotional spoken word piece, where Gomez thanks the cast and crew of Wizards of Waverly Place, the Disney Channel series that propelled her to stardom. The track captures the poignant moment when she wrapped up filming after more than 100 episodes with the team she had grown up with. “Benny saw the video online, and it was the last day I was shooting Wizards, and that was after over a hundred episodes with these people that I grew up with. So it was pretty much, you know, the beginning for me,” Gomez shared. “And at the same time I was closing a chapter.”
That nostalgic intro transitions into “Younger and Hotter Than Me,” a song that delves into the universal fear of being replaced by someone new. Gomez explained that the song reflects her own insecurities. “So he thought it would be sweet since ‘Younger and Hotter’ is a reflection of my, you know, my past or insecurities,” Gomez said of Blanco’s influence on the track. “It was really important to him that he tell that story too.”
As the conversation turned to Gomez’s rise to fame, Olsen noted the connection between the song’s theme and her own journey from being a teenager on Wizards of Waverly Place to navigating adulthood in the entertainment spotlight. Gomez agreed wholeheartedly, saying that insecurity is something everyone has felt at some point in their lives.
“I think that was what the message was meant to be—that every girl, person, human being has felt insecure and they’ve been to a house or a party or, you know, and it’s hard,” she said. “Like, I get very insecure sometimes. I’m not as insecure as I was when I was younger, but, yeah, there’s always something shinier. There’s always something better, and that’s not what I should be thinking about,” Gomez added, showing a reflective side of her growth and the lessons she has learned throughout her career.
Gomez’s openness about her insecurities and growth offers fans an intimate look into her emotional journey, both personally and professionally. The song “Younger and Hotter Than Me” not only reflects her own fears of being replaced, but it also serves as an anthem for anyone who has ever felt inadequate or unsure of themselves. Gomez’s ability to use her experiences and struggles as a source of inspiration for her music continues to resonate deeply with her audience.
