Age 16, Mandy Teefey gave birth to Selena Gomez in a rough Texas neighbourhood rife with violence.
When Gomez was just 5 years old, her mother Teefey separated from Gomez’s father and took on the responsibility of raising her as a single parent. She often worked several jobs to support Gomez’s early interest in the arts.
By the age of 7, Gomez made her debut on a TV show, which launched her into a career that eventually led to worldwide fame and a fortune in the billions.
Now at 33, Gomez is set to marry her fiancé, Benny Blanco, this Saturday, and one might assume her mother Teefey, who is now 49, would be her obvious choice to walk her down the aisle.
But sadly not: Gomez has shunned her mother.
Instead, the Daily Mail can reveal that the singer has chosen to pay tribute to her maternal grandfather, David Cornett, by having him give her away.
And the news came as a devastating blow for Teefey, who has reportedly been left ‘shattered’ by the decision.
An insider revealed to the Daily Mail that Selena’s mother and her stepfather Brian were heartbroken when she decided against having her mother accompany her down the aisle. Unexpectedly, she chose her grandfather David to give her away to Benny.
Today, Selena Gomez will tie the knot with record producer Benny Blanco in a ceremony reportedly attended by 300 guests at an undisclosed location in the chic, celebrity-favored Montecito, California.
According to an insider, her grandad will accompany her down the aisle, a choice that reportedly left her mother Mandy Teefey deeply upset. Her mother is seen alongside Gomez in a 2012 photo.
‘David and his wife Debbie broke down in tears of joy when she asked him. Selena made the decision as soon as they started planning the wedding.’
Former Disney star Gomez will marry record producer Blanco, 37, in front of a reported 300 guests at a secret location in California’s swanky, celebrity-stacked Montecito today.
Snoop Dogg will play host at the afterparty where Gomez will celebrate with best friend Taylor Swift and her ‘Only Murders in the Building’ costars Martin Short and Steve Martin, before guests retire to the luxurious El Encantor spa resort, set into the Santa Barbara hillside.
Little else is known about the wedding, which has been overseen by party planner to the stars Mindy Weiss, whose résumé includes organizing extravagant events for the Kardashians as well as Hailee Steinfeld’s recent nuptials to Josh Allen.
Gomez and Blanco’s big day comes nearly two years after they announced they were dating, and one year after Blanco popped the question with a ring believed to be worth $1 million.
Her maternal grandparents celebrated the moment on Instagram, claiming ‘our prayers have been answered.’ They also shared a picture with the newly-engaged couple and wrote: ‘Bring on the happy-ever after.’
Prior to meeting Blanco – and moving into their $35million Spanish-style estate in Beverly Hills – Gomez had been living with her grandparents at a $4.9 million, six-bedroom, 10-bathroom mansion she purchased in Encino in 2020.
‘I live with my grandparents so we’re always in the kitchen and we’re always cooking,’ she told the Food Network a month before she went public with the songwriter.
‘She didn’t feel there was any bigger way she could reward and honor her grandfather than to ask him to be such a huge part of her wedding’ (pictured with her grandfather last year)
The elderly pair have joined Gomez on multiple red carpets, and Cornett, 77, was pictured proudly walking hand-in-hand with his granddaughter as they made their way to Jimmy Kimmel Live! in New York last year.
‘Selena lived with them before she moved in with Benny and considers them to have raised her,’ our source said. ‘She didn’t feel there was any bigger way she could reward and honor her grandfather than to ask him to be such a huge part of her wedding.
‘While she loves her mother and Brian, she sat them down and explained why she’d come to her decision and what a privilege it would be for her grandfather. This is something she believes he deserves more than anyone else.’
Gomez held off telling her mother as ‘she knew it would create a problem’ and asked that her grandparents to keep it to themselves.
‘Selena didn’t tell her mother for almost a month,’ our source said.
Gomez has had a rocky relationship with her mother, with the pair even going through a period of estrangement. Their personal mental health battles have played a part.
Like Gomez, Teefey grew up in Grand Prairie, Texas. She was adopted at birth by a working-class family and raised in a violent neighborhood. At seven years old she tried to commit suicide.
‘Selena’s mother and her stepfather were shattered she didn’t choose her mother to walk her down the aisle,’ said our source (pictured with Mandy and Brian Teefy in 2008)
‘She didn’t try to talk Selena out of it,’ said the insider. ‘She realized this is the way it’s going to be.’
Gomez came along in 1992 when Teefey was 16. Teefey suffered manic episodes while pregnant and was later diagnosed with bipolar disorder and ADHD.
She split from Gomez’s father Ricardo Joel Gomez in 1997, with the actress previously admitting to blaming her mom ‘a lot’ for the divorce ‘because I wanted a family so bad.’ He went on to have a daughter – Victoria – with his current wife Sara.
Teefey married Brian Teefey in 2006 and the pair became Gomez’s managers when she landed the lead in Disney hit Wizards of Waverly Place in the early 2000s. The family relocated to Los Angeles.
The mother-daughter duo worked together on projects via Mandy’s production company, most notably the Netflix adaptation of the young adult novel 13 Reasons Why.
But by 2014, Gomez had fired them both and soon followed a period of estrangement.
When Gomez, who also has bipolar disorder and Lupus, checked into a mental health facility for ‘ongoing emotional issues’ in 2018 her mom was unaware and claimed she found out through TMZ.
‘They called me and wanted to know what my daughter was doing in the hospital with a nervous breakdown. She didn’t want anything to do with me,’ she shared in the documentary Selena Gomez: My Mind & Me.
They reunited in 2019, with Gomez later telling ABC: ‘We had to learn how to recommunicate with each other. And it’s been amazing ever since we took the time.’
Gomez will celebrate with 300 guests including her best friend Taylor Swift
They launched mental health startup, Wondermind, in April 2022 with entrepreneur Daniella Pierson. But in May 2025 it emerged the platform was in financial crisis and had laid off 60 per cent of its employees. On top of that, Mandy was accused of erratic behavior and turning her office into a ‘drug den’ by anonymous employees – something she vehemently denied.
Her alleged unpredictability is said to have encouraged Gomez’s decision to choose her grandad over her mother to walk her down the aisle.
‘Mandy can sometimes be a loose cannon,’ said a second insider. ‘And that’s partly the reason Selena didn’t choose her.’
Despite taking ‘a few weeks to accept’ her daughter’s decision, she will be at the wedding.
‘She didn’t try to talk Selena out of it,’ said the insider. ‘She realized this is the way it’s going to be.’
