This article was originally published on Crafting Your Home. A human contributor also wrote and edited the post.
Benny Blanco is proving that romance is not dead, even if it means spending an entire week at sea to prove it. The music producer, who married Selena Gomez in September 2025, is currently crossing the Atlantic Ocean by ship rather than boarding a plane, so he can reunite with his wife in London ahead of her 34th birthday on July 22.
For anyone who has followed the couple’s relationship, this grand gesture will not come as a total surprise, since Benny’s fear of flying has become almost as well known as his music career at this point.
Blanco shared the journey with fans in a TikTok video posted on July 16, giving followers a front-row seat to just how strongly he feels about his aversion to air travel.
In the clip, he wrote, “POV: ur traveling across the atlantic in the titanic to see ur wife bc ur scared of flying,” a caption that immediately had fans both laughing and swooning at the same time.
He kept things simple in his written caption for the post, adding just four words that summed up the entire situation: “the things we do for love.”
The video was set to Sam Cooke’s 1962 classic “Nothing Can Change This Love,” a song choice that fans quickly pointed out fit the moment perfectly.
A voyage that takes over a week just to say happy birthday
The timing of Benny’s sea voyage is not a coincidence. Selena is currently in London filming the sixth season of her hit Hulu series Only Murders in the Building, and the two have been navigating a long-distance relationship in recent weeks while she works on set overseas.
Rather than let the distance and his own fear keep him from being there for her birthday, Benny opted for what has become his signature move for international travel: a multi-day boat trip that typically takes about 8 days to complete.
That means Benny set sail well over a week in advance just to make sure he would land in London in time for July 22.
This is not the first time Benny has chosen the slow route across the ocean instead of getting on a plane. He has spoken openly in the past about how seriously he takes his fear of flying, including during an appearance on Jay Shetty’s On Purpose podcast, where he described exactly what it takes for him to get to Europe.
He explained, “I take the boat to Europe,” adding that the process starts with driving all the way to New York, then boarding a ship for over a week at sea. During that same conversation, Selena did not hold back when asked to describe just how serious her husband’s aversion to flying really is.
Shetty asked her what Benny is like on an airplane, and she answered simply, “He does not fly,” a response that left little room for interpretation about where things stand.
Domestic travel within the United States has not been spared from Benny’s aversion to planes either. He has previously admitted to driving cross-country between Los Angeles and New York rather than flying, even when the trip stretches on for days at a time.
Speaking to ELLE while literally on one of those road trips, Benny did not mince words about how he feels about air travel, saying, “Oh my God, I hate it. Terrifying.”
That kind of blunt honesty has become part of his charm with fans, who have grown used to seeing him choose the long way around whenever a plane would otherwise be the obvious option.
Selena and Benny’s love story, one long journey at a time
Selena and Benny’s relationship has been defined in many ways by distance and the creative ways they have found to close that gap.
The two began dating in July 2023, and their romance became public knowledge later that year, with Selena eventually confirming their relationship publicly by commenting on a fan page post about Benny, writing that he was her absolute everything.
Since then, the couple has continued to prioritize showing up for each other despite demanding schedules on both sides, with Benny’s music career and Selena’s acting and business ventures often pulling them in different directions geographically.
This is far from the first time Benny’s fear of flying has produced a memorable travel story either. Fellow musician Ed Sheeran previously shared a lighthearted account of accompanying Benny on a similar transatlantic boat trip years earlier, when the two worked together, describing an experience that lasted 10 full days at sea.
Sheeran recalled a particularly memorable moment during that voyage, writing that the ship’s captain made an announcement informing passengers they were passing over the spot where the Titanic sank, prompting Benny and Sheeran to lock eyes and immediately decide to watch the 1997 film together on board.
That earlier trip reportedly became part of the creative process behind an entire album the two worked on together while crossing the ocean.
Selena has also been candid about how she feels regarding her husband’s fear, noting that she is not entirely sure she would even want to fly alongside him given how anxious the experience would likely make her.
She explained that she would be too worried about him if they were on a plane together, adding that she believes his fear runs quite deep.
Despite the challenges that come with a partner who avoids one of the fastest and most common forms of travel, Selena and Benny have continued to make their long-distance stretches work, previously stating that they aim to see each other at least every three weeks whenever their schedules keep them apart for extended periods.
Fans following along with Benny’s latest journey have flooded social media with reactions, with many calling the gesture one of the most romantic things they have seen a celebrity do for a partner’s birthday.
Others have leaned into the humor of the situation, pointing out the irony of joking about the Titanic while genuinely spending over a week crossing the same ocean that famously sank the ship.
Either way, the response has made clear that fans see this latest voyage as yet another example of just how far Benny is willing to go, quite literally, to be there for his wife.
As Selena continues filming in London and gears up for her birthday celebration, all signs point to Benny arriving with plenty of time to spare thanks to his early departure.
Whether the couple chooses to celebrate quietly, given her busy filming schedule, or mark the occasion with something bigger has not yet been shared publicly.
What is clear, based on Benny’s own actions and the couple’s history of prioritizing time together despite the obstacles, is that no ocean, however wide, seems capable of keeping him from showing up when it matters most.
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