Selena Gomez: Snapshot

Selena Gomez: Five Fun Facts

1. Both Selena Gomez and Nick Jonas wear promise rings as a symbol of chastity. "That was something we bonded over," Gomez told PEOPLE.
2. Selena Gomez is a budding chef, whose specialty is chicken with Hawaiian teriyaki sauce. "If she cooks, I clean," her mother Mandy Teefey told PEOPLE. "If I cook, she cleans."
3. Camp Rock star Demi Lovato and Selena Gomez are BFFs. "She's been my best friend since I was 7 years old and we did 'Barney' together," she told the AP.
4. Selena Gomez, a self-described "shoe girl," spends her $150-250 weekly allowance at Aldo and Forever 21.
5. Miley Cyrus considered her YouTube parody of Selena Gomez and Demi Lovato a compliment. "Elvis says imitation's the greatest form of flattery," Cyrus told Popstar! magazine. "I mean if we offended (Gomez and Lovato), we’re super sorry, but we were, like, just having fun."

Selena Gomez: Biography

1999

I Love You, You Love Me…

At age 7, Gomez stars on Barney & Friends. "I was very shy when I was little," she tells PEOPLE in 2008. "I didn't know what 'camera right' was. I didn't know what blocking was. I learned everything from Barney." But after two seasons, she says, "[producers] felt like I was getting a little too old, so I got the boot."

2007

October 12

Teen Witch: Selena on Waverly Place

After doing the Disney Channel rounds on The Suite Life of Zack and Cody and Hannah Montana, Gomez lands her own show, Wizards of Waverly Place. She plays tomboy teen witch Alex on the Disney Channel hit. "I'm nothing like her," Gomez tells the AP of her character. "She's kind of mean and a little bit sassy and I think I'd get in trouble for that."

2008

Spring

The Next Miley Cyrus

With a TV hit on her hands, Gomez's star-power draws her comparisons to reigning Disney princess Miley Cyrus. "I think it's an honor, it's a good compliment," Gomez tells the AP. In March, Cyrus ignites a reported feud with Gomez when she and her pal Mandy Jiroux mock Gomez and her friend Demi Lovato on YouTube. Both stars deny a feud, with Cyrus saying she's "super sorry" about the video.

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Selena Gomez: Special Feature