Wizards of Waverly Place’s David Henrie Dishes on a 'Great Dinner' with Selena Gomez and Boyfriend Benny Blanco

Mar. 15, 2025

David Henrie (left); Benny Blanco and Selena Gomez.Photo:VALERIE MACON/AFP via Getty;  Matt Winkelmeyer/Getty

VALERIE MACON/AFP via Getty;  Matt Winkelmeyer/Getty

Selena Gomez’sWizards of Waverly Placeon-screen brotherDavid Henriegave his stamp of approval to Gomez’s boyfriend,Benny Blanco.

Henrie, 35, and wifeMaria Cahilljoined Gomez, 32, and Blanco (real name Benjamin Joseph Levin) for a “great dinner” of Italian food as their first meeting.

“He can order good food. He can order very good food," Henrie recently toldE! Newsof the renowned music producer. But Blanco, 36, has also developed quite a culinary reputation, from creatingmouthwatering meals for friends and familyto the release of his previous cooking shows likeEat Out Americaand his debut cookbook,Open Wide: A Cookbook for Friends.

“He’s super funny. I was cracking up the whole time,” Henrie said, adding that Blanco is “such a nice guy.”

Selena Gomez and Benny Blanco.Selena Gomez/Instagram

Selena Gomez/Instagram

“I trust Selena, and I want her to be very happy,”theHow I Met Your Mother alumconfessed. “She knows I have her back.”

Although they met as teens playing siblings Justin and Alex Russo onWizards of Waverly Place,Gomez and Henrie’s relationship has evolved as they’ve grown older, he said.

“It was more big brother growing up, but now we’re all kind of equals,” he told E! News.

The actor revealed that the sibling dynamic audiences can sense while watching the show is the same off-camera. “We really did care about one another," he said. “I think it’s a wonderful culture to have each other’s backs, to have an openness. It’s been wonderful.”

Selena Gomez and David Henrie on Sept. 24.Todd Williamson/JanuaryImages/Shutterstock

Todd Williamson/JanuaryImages/Shutterstock

“Selena and I remained very good friends from the end of the show, and I got married, she became good friends with my wife, and we would just all get together and have a glass of wine and just talk about memories,” he previously toldPEOPLE.

“Her and my wife actually get along very well. They have woman-to-woman conversations and I just chime in with a joke or something,” he told E! News.

“Despite all of her massive successes, her and I, our relationship has just withstood all that because I don’t know, we’re just real with each other,” Henrie told PEOPLE.

Selena Gomez and David Henrie in “Wizards of Waverly Place.".Craig Sjodin/Disney Channel via Getty

Craig Sjodin/Disney Channel via Getty

The pair have taken their off-screen friendship back on screen with the new sequel series,Wizards Beyond Waverly Place. Justin Russo (Henrie) is now living a normal life outside of the Wizard World. But, a new challenge surfaces when his sister Alex Russo (Gomez) introduces him to Billie (Janice LeAnn Brown), a young wizard in need of Justin’s mentorship.

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Wizards Beyond Waverly Placepremieres Tuesday, Oct. 29 at 8 p.m. ET on Disney Channel and will be available to stream on Disney+.

source: people.com