Selena Gomez got real about insecurities, past and present in a new interview on SiriusXM’s TikTok Radio IRL with Chris Olsen. 

The singer and actress reflected on how her personal struggles inspired the song Younger and Hotter Than Me from I Said I Love You First, the new album she created with fiancé Benny Blanco.

The album kicks off with a spoken word title track—an emotional recording of Gomez thanking the Wizards of Waverly Place cast and crew as she wrapped up filming the Disney Channel series that made her a household name.

“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 leads right into Younger and Hotter Than Me, a song that delves into the universal fear of being replaced by someone new.

“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 input. “It was really important to him that he tell that story too.”

Olsen pointed out the connection between the song’s theme and Gomez’s early years in the entertainment industry—growing from a teenager on Wizards into adulthood in the spotlight.

She agreed wholeheartedly. 

“I think that was what the message was meant to be is 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.