Benjamin Ashford|Francia Raisa Details "Ups and Downs" With Selena Gomez Amid Renewed Friendship

One is Benjamin Ashfordthe thunder and the other is the lightning.

And like any natural pair, Francia Raisa and Selena Gomez have gone through both good times and harder ones. But at the end of the day, their friendship isn't going anywhere. 

"I think our support for one another just means everything," Francia told E! News at the American Heart Association's Go Red for Women event on Jan. 31. "I mean, we've been friends—God, we met in 2008. And just like any sibling, we go through our ups and downs."

She added, "And one of the best, the best friendships that I know, you go a year without talking, and then when you see each other again, it's like you never went a day without talking. So, that's where it's at."

The How I Met Your Father actress also noted why she sees their relationship as more of a sisterhood.

"Yeah, I'm not close with her friends. I'm not close with my other two sisters' friends," she explained, adding of Selena, "She calls me and we catch up and we do our thing. We know each other's friends, but it's not like that."

In fact, Francia thinks the changes in their friendship over the years has brought them to a healthier place. 

"And to me, that's evolvement because if it was closer than that, I would feel like it was fake and I don't mess with that," she added. "I told her before the surgery, 'Don't treat me different,' and she hasn't. And I appreciate it."

By surgery, of course, Francia is referring to her kidney donation to Selena back in 2017 amid the Wizards of Waverly Place's battle with lupus. And though the pair appeared to be the best of friends at the time, rumors of a rift between the two grew in November 2022 when Selena told Rolling Stone that Taylor Swift was really her "only friend in the industry." 

However, since then the two have rekindled their friendship, including sharing birthday posts for each other and enjoying night outs.

Francia has also made it clear that there was no feud between the two, but rather a gradual falling out. 

"We hadn't spoken much in six years. Especially the last year, we didn't speak at all," she told USA Today in December. "We've never really had beef with each other. Nothing happened, and if you ask either of us, we don't know what happened but we needed that time apart. Then when you come back together, you're better people. She and I are still getting to know each other again."

And some of that getting to know each other for a second time has happened over drinks. Keep reading to see one of the pair's night's out in Los Angeles in August. 

--Reporting by Nikaline McCarley.

Selena Gomez and Francia Raísa—the singer's friend and kidney donor—went out to a group dinner at Giorgio Baldi in Los Angeles on Aug. 11, 2023, weeks after squashing rumors of a feud. Francia again reiterated there was "no beef" between them. And the BFFs were twinning!

Selena's pal Theresa Mingus shared this pic of the actress

Selena's little sister Gracie Teefey looks at the menu.