Selena Gomez's kidney donor Francia Raísa on their 'rocky' relationship, and where they stand now

Francia Raísa opened up about “rocky” elements of her relationship with Selena Gomez at the same time she voiced support for her longtime friend.

“We trauma-bonded, which is beautiful, but also it can get rocky and tricky,” the “Grown-ish” star, 35, told Extra on Oct. 4, as she attended a benefit for Gomez’s Rare Impact Fund.

“People grow, relationships change,” she continued. “Obviously, I treat her like my little sister, she treats me like her older sister … I don’t know any relationship that’s perfect.”

Her comments came a little less than a year after an alleged falling out between her and Gomez, 31.

In the recent red carpet interview, Raísa seemed to suggest that they are still there for each other. “I am happy that we are here today, celebrating and supporting each other.”

Gomez and Raísa have been through a lot together, from meeting as young TV stars to sharing the experience of a kidney transplant.

Here’s what they have said over the years about their friendship.

Their friendship goes way back

Gomez and Raísa met years ago at a charity event at a children’s hospital, when Gomez was still starring in “Wizards of Wizardly Place," and Raísa was starring in ABC’s “The Secret Life of the American Teenager."

“(Selena) came up to me and was like, ‘My mom had a teenage pregnancy, she was 16 years old, and we love your show,’” Raísa told Extra. “I was like, ‘Oh, my God, thank you! I love your show.’”

It wasn’t long before their bond grew deeper.

“Around the time that my boyfriend and I broke up, and her and her boyfriend broke up, she called me and was like, ‘I am going through some stuff … I am going through a breakup,’” Raísa recalled. “I was like, ‘Girl, me, too,’ and we were just inseparable after that ever since.”

Raísa donated a kidney to Gomez in 2017

In 2017, a health crisis brought Gomez and Raísa even closer.

Two years earlier, at the age of 23, Gomez revealed to Billboard she was living with lupus, an autoimmune disease that can cause the immune system to attack the body’s own tissues, according to the Mayo Clinic.

By 2017, her kidneys were shutting down due to the lupus, and she urgently needed a transplant. However, it could be years before she found a donor.

Raísa volunteered to be tested to see if she was a match for a transplant — and when she found out she was a match, she donated one of her kidneys to Gomez.

In September, Gomez shared a photo of her and Raísa lying side by side in hospital beds around the time of the surgery, which had taken place in June.

“There aren’t words to describe how I can possibly thank my beautiful friend Francia Raísa,” Gomez wrote in the caption. “She gave me the ultimate gift and sacrifice by donating her kidney to me. I am incredibly blessed. I love you so much sis.”

In an interview with TODAY’s Savannah Guthrie for NBC News later in 2017, Gomez talked about how the transplant transformed her life.

“As soon as I got the kidney transplant, my arthritis went away,” Gomez said. “My lupus — there’s about a 3-5 percent chance it’ll ever come back. My blood pressure is better. My energy, my life has been better.”

Raísa has opened up about the experience of donating a kidney to Gomez. She shared that they waited a few months to go public about the transplant because they “wanted that privacy.”

“We wanted that privacy. It was a big surgery,” Raísa told Harry Connick Jr. on his talk show in 2018.

“She felt bad about even having me do that because we are just friends, I am not her family or anything. But I am now. She has my blood,” she said

She added that she felt like a member of Gomez’s family.

“It was cool because now I have a bigger family,” she said. “I lost my grandparents when I was younger … Her grandparents are my grandparents now, and so I have this extension of a family now, and it’s been really amazing.”

Gomez’s comment about her “only friend” sparked rumors of a feud

In 2022, a comment from Gomez in an interview made some fans wonder if she and Raísa had had a falling out.

“I never fit in with a cool group of girls that were celebrities,” Gomez told Rolling Stone in November 2022. “My only friend in the industry really is Taylor (Swift), so I remember feeling like I didn’t belong.”

Some on social media wondered if Gomez’s “only friend” comment was a snub of Raísa.

A few days later, Gomez appeared to address the rumors directly on TikTok.

“Sorry I didn’t mention every person I know,” the singer commented on a TikTok video posted by user Stephanie Tleiji.

The video claimed that Raísa had unfollowed Gomez on Instagram a day after her Rolling Stone interview was published.

Gomez called Raísa her “best friend” in a 2023 documentary

Regardless of any possible tension between them, the stars have spoken warmly about each other in recent months.

In March 2023, Gomez called Raísa “my best friend.”

“It was one of those moments where I felt watched over. I know I was so, so, so lucky,” Gomez said, recalling the kidney transplant in the Apple TV+ documentary, “Dear…”.

“I will never, ever, ever be more in debt to a person than Francia,” she added.

Gomez also shared her love for her friend in an Instagram post in July, in honor of Raísa’s 35th birthday.

”Happiest of birthdays to this special human being,” Gomez wrote in the caption, sharing photos of her and Raísa together. “No matter where life takes us, I love you.”

Raísa talked about “rocky” times while sharing her support for Gomez

In another sign that Gomez and Raísa may be putting any alleged conflict behind them, Raísa attended the singer’s inaugural Rare Impact Fund Benefit in October 2023.

Opening up about their friendship in a red carpet interview with Extra, she seemed to hint that she and Gomez are beginning a fresh chapter in their friendship.

“I am a different person today than I was last year or even when I turned 30. I’m 35 now," she said. "Even when Selena turned 30, I’m like, ‘It’s different, isn’t it?’ and she was like, ‘Yeah.' I said, ‘Welcome to your 30s. Now we can get to know each other again.”

Raísa also shared her belief that sometimes, “people need to spend time apart in order to grow.”

She also appeared to address online rumors that their alleged falling out was somehow related to the transplant.

“I am OK now, and just for the record, it had nothing to do with the kidney,” she said.

TODAY.com has reached out to Gomez for comment.

This article was originally published on TODAY.com