Selena Gomez’s Parents: All you need to know about Mother Mandy Teefey and Stepfather Brian Teefey

Selena Gomez and producer Benny Blanco tied the knot in a private ceremony in Santa Barbara, California, on Saturday. The couple, who got engaged in December 2024 after more than a year of dating, kept their wedding details closely guarded until the day of the event.

Selena Gomez was born on July 22, 1992, in Grand Prairie, Texas, to Mandy Teefey and Ricardo Rick Joel Gomez. Mandy, who is of Italian ancestry, was only 16 years old at the time. Rick, of Mexican descent, and Mandy were high school sweethearts. They married briefly but divorced in 1997, when Selena was five years old.


Mandy has previously spoken about the challenges of being a young mother. “I was a teen mom with Selena, obviously, and was very judged by that,” she told Entertainment Tonight in 2017. “Even my counselors and teachers said I had failed.” She added, “When I got pregnant, I thought, ‘OK, I have another person depending on me. I’ve got to get straight.’ I wasn’t going to let her have the upbringing I did.”

Mandy and Brian Teefey

Mandy remarried in 2006, to wedding talent manager Brian Teefey when Selena was 14. Together, they co-managed Selena’s career for eight years, guiding her through Disney Channel success with Wizards of Waverly Place and her early music projects. In 2014, Selena stepped away to pursue her own path. “I was like, ‘Mom, I gotta figure it out on my own,’” she told W Magazine in 2016.
Mandy and Brian welcomed Selena’s half-sister, Gracie Elliot Teefey, in 2013. Selena’s father Rick later remarried Sara Tovar, with whom he has two more children.

Family and the Wedding

Reports suggest Gomez’s wedding also reflected family dynamics. According to Daily Mail, Selena asked her maternal grandfather, David Cornett, to walk her down the aisle. An insider claimed, “Selena’s mother and her stepfather Brian were shattered she didn’t choose her mother to walk her down the aisle. In a shock move she chose her grandfather David to give her away to Benny.”