Selena Gomez
Selena Gomez

Benny Blanco is once again taking to the open ocean rather than the skies to see his wife, Selena Gomez, embarking on an eight-day boat journey across the Atlantic ahead of her 34th birthday, a trip made necessary by the music producer's well-documented fear of flying.

Blanco, 38, shared his unconventional travel plans in a TikTok video posted Thursday, July 16, showing himself aboard a boat somewhere out on the open water. Text overlaid on the clip read, "POV: ur traveling across the atlantic in the titanic to see ur wife bc ur scared of flying," a playful nod to his ongoing aversion to air travel. Blanco paired the footage with Sam Cooke's 1962 song "Nothing Can Change This Love" and captioned the post simply, "the things we do for love."

Gomez, 33, has been based in London since May filming the sixth season of Hulu's hit comedy "Only Murders in the Building," alongside co-stars Steve Martin and Martin Short. Her extended stay overseas has kept the couple largely apart in recent months, with the exception of a brief reunion in early July, when Blanco joined her in New York City for Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce's wedding at Madison Square Garden. Gomez turns 34 on July 22, and Blanco's lengthy sea voyage is timed to ensure he can celebrate the milestone birthday with her in person despite the distance separating them for much of the summer.

Blanco's fear of flying has become a well-established part of his public persona in recent years, one he has discussed openly across multiple interviews. Speaking with ELLE while literally driving cross-country from Los Angeles to New York earlier this year, Blanco did not mince words about his feelings toward air travel. "Oh my God, I hate it," he said. "Terrifying. I'm in Dallas right now. I'm driving to New York from Los Angeles." That kind of cross-country driving has become a regular routine for Blanco whenever Gomez's filming schedule keeps her on the East Coast, allowing the couple to maintain their relationship despite his aversion to planes.

International travel presents a bigger logistical challenge, one Blanco has tackled by opting for extended sea voyages rather than transatlantic flights. During an appearance on the "On Purpose with Jay Shetty" podcast alongside Gomez, Blanco described his usual process for reaching Europe. "I take the boat to Europe," he said. "Oh my God, it's so long. It's like first you have to drive to New York and then you get on a boat for eight days, and you're on the Titanic." Blanco has previously referenced taking a similar transatlantic boat trip with musician Ed Sheeran, during which the two worked together on Sheeran's "Divide" album, underscoring that this latest journey is not the first time he has chosen the sea over the sky to reach the continent.

Gomez has spoken candidly about her husband's fear of flying and what it means for their relationship when they are apart. Asked directly what Blanco is like on a flight during the same "On Purpose" interview, Gomez answered plainly, "He does not fly." Blanco added that he has flown in the past, but not since the two began dating. Gomez went on to say she isn't even sure she would want to fly alongside her husband given the intensity of his anxiety around air travel, explaining that she would spend the entire flight worried about him rather than relaxing, and describing it as clearly "a big fear of his."

The couple, who married in September 2025, have discussed the challenges of maintaining a long-distance relationship during Gomez's filming stints away from Los Angeles. Speaking on the "Table Manners with Jessie and Lennie Ware" podcast, the two said they aim to see each other at least once every three weeks whenever work keeps them apart, a goal that has driven Blanco's frequent cross-country drives and, when overseas filming is involved, his extended sea voyages. Gomez has described the arrangement as difficult but manageable, crediting mutual trust as central to making the long-distance stretches work. "The biggest thing in the world is trust," Gomez has said. "I can say with all my heart that I trust this person."

Gomez has continued documenting her time in London on social media throughout the filming process, sharing behind-the-scenes glimpses from the "Only Murders in the Building" set, including photos alongside co-stars Martin Short and Meryl Streep, who joined the show's cast this season. On June 10, Gomez posted a gallery of photos to her Instagram grid marking the couple's time apart, writing in the caption that distance means little when someone means so much, tagging Blanco directly and noting that she missed him.

Blanco's romantic, if unconventional, journey across the Atlantic has drawn widespread attention online, with fans and entertainment outlets alike highlighting the lengths he has gone to in order to be present for his wife's birthday despite his flying anxiety. The trip continues a now-familiar pattern for the couple, in which Blanco's aversion to air travel has repeatedly shaped how the two navigate time apart during Gomez's demanding filming schedules, whether through long cross-country drives within the United States or multi-day sea crossings when international travel is required.

With Gomez's birthday approaching on July 22 and filming for the new season of "Only Murders in the Building" continuing in London, Blanco's eight-day voyage is expected to bring the couple back together just in time for the celebration, offering another example of what Blanco himself has repeatedly summed up in three simple words: the things we do for love.

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