Selena Gomez feels "the safest" she's ever felt with Benny Blanco

Asked why she's been more public about their relationship, she told The Hollywood Reporter: I guess this is the safest I've ever felt in one, and I see a future with this person. And when you put a little bit out there, people are not as hungry to hunt you down.

" Like, if they hear something, they're going to, but if you're like, 'I did it', they're like, 'Oh, well there's you, just going to Sushi Park'.

"But there's so much of my relationship people don't see, that's just mine...

"I just try to not give [paparazzi] good [photos] sometimes; but other times, it's part of the job and you just have to deal with it."

The 32-year-old star is happy with the balance she's struck that's meant she can maintain her privacy when it matters.

Asked if she feels she has a private life, she said: "I do, because I hang out with people who aren't really in the business that much. I mean, I have both."

When her friendship with pop superstar Taylor Swift was then noted, she added: "Yeah, there's that. But I still feel like I have a private life. I have my places to go, and no one bothers me at, like, [my half-sister] Gracie's soccer games. No one really bothers me unless I'm in the whole to-do."

Selena is pleased her 11-year-old half-sister, Grace Teefey, isn't interested in following in her footsteps.

She said: "We go to Target, we'll go bowling, we'll go places, and we don't really get bothered. And if we do, she's used to it. It does bring me joy when she's like, 'I don't really want to do what you do'.

"I'd support whatever her dreams are, I would, but it's just nice to let her figure it out.

"I knew very young that I wanted to be in the entertainment industry, and I'm so grateful that she hasn't felt like I live a sparkly life, so she wants that life.

"I mean, she was Adam Sandler for Halloween. She wears basketball shorts. She loves Billie Eilish and Frank Ocean. She's such an interesting, beautiful person."