David Henrie says he knew Selena Gomez had found the one in her new husband, Benny Blanco, before they tied the knot in their dreamy California wedding on Sept. 27.
During an interview with Henrie, he reflected on the first time he met Gomez’s hubby during a double date with his wife, Maria.
“I got to meet Benny, I want to say, shortly into when they were getting serious,” the actor recalled. “This is the first guy that I’ve met of Selena’s that, like, I could tell she feels really safe with, and he protects her emotionally, physically.”
Henrie continued, “He makes her happy, he makes her laugh. And I was like, ‘Look, I haven’t seen Selena like that before.’ Like to see her kind of fold into a guy’s arms in a really healthy and positive way, where there’s a trust there. I haven’t seen that, you know, I’ve known her since she was 13. It’s really wonderful to see.”
Selena, 33, made a stunning bride wearing a lace Ralph Lauren gown to marry her music producer beau. Henrie attended the couple’s nuptials in Santa Barbara, Calif. His advice for the new bride? Something “old” he passed on from his own wedding day.
“Hold hands and just observe the room like wherever you are. Take, like a solid two minutes where no one’s talking to anyoneand just look at the room and remember,” Henrie, 36, told Selena before her big day.
Henrie and the “Rare Beauty” founder have been friends since they met as child actors starring on “Wizards of Waverly Place” as the Russo siblings, Justin and Alex, respectively. Now they are working together as executive producers on the Disney Channel reboot, “Wizards Beyond Waverly Place,” where Henrie reprised his role as Justin, but this time as a dad helping his wizard kids with their powers.
“We really look at season two like the series really beginning, season one was like the prequel. That’s the time where we’re figuring things out. Now we know the kids are wizards. The big finale of season one is the kids are wizards. They find out that they have powers.”
Janice LeAnn Brown, who plays Billie and Henrie’s on-screen daughter, told us her favorite episode in season two was filming the finale with Gomez.
“When we read the finale, man, Scott Thomas got me, I was bawling,” Brown, 15, said. “It was very emotional. I’m really excited for everyone to see it. It’s a comedy. So, you know, I wasn’t really expecting us to go there.”
Henrie chimed in, saying, “Everyone was crying. Half the set was crying. Selena was crying. Everyone was crying.”
He added, “To brag about her and Selena, they give incredible performances. They give Emmy-worthy performances. I’m not kidding, if we end up winning an Emmy, it’ll be because of them two, at the season finale, because they really tapped into some deeper emotions there.”
Eagle-eyed fans noticed in the trailer that Alex mentions Billie being dropped at Justin’s doorstep in Gomez’s cameo on the show. When asked if we will find out if Billie is, in fact, Alex’s biological daughter, Henrie played coy.
“Here’s what I’ll say, you’re asking the right questions. I think you’re asking the right questions,” he told Tezeno. “So, know they will be explored this season in a very deep and profound way.”
All episodes of “Wizards Beyond Waverly Place” season two premiere on October 8 on Disney+.
