Selena Gomez-Benny Blanco's wedding menu won't include cake, but will feature this special dish from her grandmother
Food as a Bond in Their Relationship
Selena Gomez has opened up about a personal detail of her upcoming wedding to music producer Benny Blanco, offering fans a glimpse into what the couple might serve at their celebration. In a video shared by her beauty brand, the singer made it clear that she is not in favour of a large, traditional wedding cake. Instead, she prefers something more private and meaningful—a small cake exclusively for the couple, which they can freeze and enjoy later.While the usual choice for a wedding dessert might be a tiered cake or elaborate sweets, Gomez is leaning toward a nostalgic and unconventional option: her grandmother's biscuits and gravy, as per the Rare Beauty clip on Instagram. To her, that dish feels more like dessert than anything sugary. She emphasized that this comfort food holds a special place in her heart, making it a top pick for the celebration.The couple got engaged in December 2024, after publicly acknowledging their relationship a year earlier. Despite their engagement, Blanco confirmed during an appearance on the Therapuss with Jake Shane podcast that they haven't begun formal wedding planning. He explained that both have been caught up with professional commitments, from filming music videos to working on new projects, leaving little time for organizing the event.Blanco added that they are looking forward to finally sitting down during the summer to discuss details. He suggested that the ceremony is likely to be relaxed and informal, aligning with both their personalities.Gomez and Blanco's shared love for food is well documented. Blanco has spoken in interviews about how food plays a key role in their bond. For past occasions like Valentine's Day, he has gone out of his way to prepare meals tailored to Gomez's tastes, including deep-fried pickles from her home state, Taco Bell, and snacks like Hot Cheetos. On one occasion, he even filled a bathtub with queso, complete with chips for dipping.Speaking to People magazine earlier, Blanco encouraged people to cook for their partners, even if they aren't skilled in the kitchen. He stressed that the effort alone often means more than the final result.Before becoming a couple, Gomez and Blanco had worked together on several music projects over the years. Their personal relationship grew stronger in 2023, and by the end of 2024, they made their engagement public. While they have chosen to keep certain aspects of their personal life private, both have been open about how food and shared moments at home play a significant role in their lives.
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Kunte said that before the tournament began, he had told the teenager that since she was in great form, she would have to play in all 11 rounds for India, while others were being substituted. Deshmukh agreed without a moment's pause. 'She has very strong psychology. Many players, when they're under pressure, they break. Some players don't convert their advantage. But she's not like that. When she's under pressure, she will make sure that she defends very tenuously,' Kunte said. 'At the same time, when she feels she is better, she will keep the advantage with her. She's very clever that way when she's playing chess.' In an interview with The Indian Express in 2023 after winning the title at the Tata Steel Chess India's rapid tournament in Kolkata, Deshmukh had mentioned that while she is inspired by many players like Humpy and Anand, she doesn't really have any 'role models'. She also admitted that she wasn't certain she wanted to pursue chess full-time and that she was 'still exploring' if she wanted to focus full-time on chess or on further studies. 'What stood out about Divya was her ability to strike a balance between academics and chess,' Anju Bhutani, former principal and current academic co-ordinator with the management at Bhavan's Bhagwandas Purohit Vidya Mandir where Deshmukh studied told The Indian Express. 'Even while competing in tournaments, she never neglected her studies. She did well in her exams, submitted her assignments on time, and always remained grounded despite winning big titles. Each time she returned after a win, she would quietly come and stand outside my cabin with her trophy. She didn't speak much, but she would come in, give a quick hug and click a picture together.' Now, as chess seems to have taken over, Deshmukh said she admires the current world no 1 from China Hou Yifan, who has won the women's world championship multiple times. Why? Because Hou won everything there was on offer in chess, then branched out into academics, earning a master's degree at Oxford University as a Rhodes Scholar and then started working at Shenzhen University. While most grandmasters from India her age like world champion Gukesh and Praggnanandhaa started focussing solely on chess from a very early age, Deshmukh still harbours hope that one day the world of academics will open a portal into a different universe for her. Since the pandemic, the tectonic plates under chess have shifted as the sport has experienced tremors of an Indian earthquake. On the men's side, world champion Gukesh, Praggnanandhaa and Arjun Erigaisi are flagbearers of this golden generation, a trio capable of beating the world's best. With Gukesh already winning the world championship, there is hope that his opponent next year could be an Indian as well. On the women's side, this India vs India battle for the top prize — a true indicator of dominance in a sport — has already come true when Humpy played Deshmukh at the World Cup. The sight of two Indian women fighting for the title, while two Chinese players fought for the third place spot could be a turn-of-the-page moment for women's chess, which has so far been dominated by players from Russia and China. At the forefront of this is the 19-year-old once proclaimed the 'future of Indian chess'. That future is here. As Deshmukh wrote in her two-word mission statement on Instagram, it's now her turn. (With inputs from Ankita Deshkar) Amit Kamath is Assistant Editor at The Indian Express and is based in Mumbai. ... Read More
