Selena Gomez had to hide her love of Friends while working on Wizards of Waverly Place

There might be a little Rachel Green in Alex Russo.

Selena Gomez shared that she was very much influenced by NBC's hit 1994 sitcom Friends while filming her Disney Channel comedy series Wizards of Waverly Place — but she had to be coy about her love for the show.

The Only Murders in the Building star appeared on Wizards of Waverly Pod, a podcast hosted by her former costars Jennifer Stone and David DeLuise, and said that her love of Friends "triggered certain people" while on the topic of comedic timing.

"I asked how you had such impeccable timing. You guys were so clever and funny so young," DeLuise said. "And you said to me, 'Don't tell anybody, but I've watched every episode of Friends.' I guess you weren't allowed to watch Friends or something? But I was just going to say, you were very influenced by them, right?"

"1,000 percent," Gomez said. "Now I've had the opportunity to meet some of them, and I freak out to this day." When Stone asked why she had to remain coy about her love for the sitcom at age 14, Gomez offered: "I think it was because I wasn't really... actually, I do know why. It triggered certain people. I just had to be annoyingly shy about it."

Gomez did not further elaborate, but later added that her 9-year-old sister is a fan of the Disney sitcom. "She's fallen in love with the show. Even before she was born, sometimes I would be by myself, and I would just throw on an episode to fall asleep to. I just loved it," she said. "I think she's got a crush on David [Henrie, who played Gomez's brother]."

A well-documented Friends fan, Gomez has since struck up a friendship with star Jennifer Aniston. The two gave each other flowers when Aniston guest-hosted an episode of The Ellen DeGeneres Show in January 2020, where guest Gomez declared that "Rachel was my life." She told Aniston, "I would watch [Friends] on channel 33 at 10:30 every night on Thursday with my mom and I cried when the whole season was over. It's iconic."

Watch Gomez's interview on Wizards of Waverly Pod above.

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