Puth and Gomez first met at the 2015 MTV VMAs. "I just went up to her and started talking to her," Puth told Us Weekly. The duo later recorded a song — "We Don't Talk Anymore" — for his 2016 debut album, "Nine Track Mind."
In a 2018 interview with Billboard, Puth spoke about his relationship with Gomez, saying, "I don't kiss and tell, but the only way a song like ['We Don't Talk Anymore'] can come across as real is if there's something else going on behind the scenes. And that's what was happening [with Gomez]. Very short-lived, very small, but very impactful. And it really messed me up. I'm trying to put this the best way possible: It wasn't like I was the only person on her mind. And I think I knew that going in — what I was getting myself into."
However, shortly after Billboard published the piece, a source told People that Gomez and Puth "never dated."