Back in 2015, Selena Gomez and Justin Bieber broke up, but they still had feelings for each other for quite some time. Selena once confessed her ongoing love for Justin, and it was pretty clear that she was the inspiration for his hit songs of the time like, Where R U Now, What Do You Mean, and Sorry. Here’s what Justin once said about Selena Gomez.

When Justin Bieber admitted he wasn’t over Selena Gomez yet

During his interview with Access Hollywood in November 2015, Justin admitted that Selena Gomez was the inspiration for many songs on his new album, he said, “Probably like three songs.”He even acknowledged that Selena was his “first real love.” But that’s not all; Justin Bieber opened up further, admitting that he might not have completely moved on from Selena.

He said, “It was really tough. I don’t know if I’m over it yet.” He added, “I think that I’m definitely in another place and I think we’ve definitely went our separate ways.” However, Bieber cleared that even though he’s moved on with his life, he will always cherish his love for Selena. “I love her and I want her to be awesome, but there are things that remind me of her.”

Justin also confessed that if he and Selena had met later in life, they might still be together. He mentioned writing a song that didn’t make it to the album, titled If I Would Have Met You In 5 Years. Justin described the song, “How true is that? How many people go through life and end up meeting someone and it feels so right, but it’s just the wrong time? So many people can relate to that.”

Justin’s deep respect for Selena

Regarding their current relationship, Justin made it clear that he will always reach out to Selena because they deeply respect each other. He explained, “[She] is someone I love dearly. I’m never going to stop loving her. I’m never going to stop checking in on her. I don’t think if you end a relationship, you should end that unless it was super toxic and you guys were hurting each other physically or mentally, we always respected each other and we still respect each other.”

He concluded by saying, “I don’t know what happens. I don’t know what is going to happen in the future, I think we both gotta do some soul-searching ourselves and figure out ourselves before we can just try to figure out each other.” This was the only interview where Justin showcased the most honest and open discussion about his relationship with Selena, ever.