Back in February 2010, Gomez opened up about her friendship with Bieber right before they were scheduled to play a New York-area show together. Back then, though, her feelings for Bieber seemed much more platonic.
"I love Justin. When he first started to come over from Canada his manager contacted me and he just said that he would like to meet me and he was just such a good kid," she explained. "And I feel like a big sister now, 'cause I want to protect him. So I'm always very cautious with him, but he is so talented and he's so sweet, so that just started us wanting to work together. Now he's just become one of my good friends."
Later that year, in July, Gomez voiced a similar sentiment, still sticking to her assessment of Bieber as a little brother. "I love him. He's like my little brother. I like to say his name onstage because if I'm performing badly, I say his name and the audience will cheer," she joked, adding that she had some advice for the singer: "You're short, embrace it."By September, the pair was hanging out at the VMAs together and Gomez wanted the world to know that she hoped Bieber would take home a Moonman. "I think he's worked really hard," she said. "I think he works harder than a lot of people I know, so he deserves it."
Gomez wanted to cut Bieber's hair in October, and by November Bieber was brushing off romance rumors when they were spotted hanging out at a football game together. "It was weird. No one bothered me at all," Justin explained about hanging out with Jaden and Will Smith (Gomez just happened to be there, too). "We were at a high school game and [Selena] came too. It was the weirdest thing. She's sweet. She's a sweetheart."
