Selena Gomez 'best friends' with The Weeknd

Selena Gomez has insisted she is still "best friends" with her ex-boyfriend The Weeknd, despite him removing all traces of her from his Instagram account this week.

The 25-year-old singer recently called time on her romance with the fellow musician - whose real name is Abel Tesfaye - but has revealed there's no love lost between the pair as they still maintain a "true friendship" and "genuinely care" for one another.

She said: "Something that I'm really proud of is that there's such a true friendship [between me and The Weeknd]. I truly have never experienced anything like that in my life. We ended it as best friends, and it was genuinely about encouraging and caring [for each other], and that was pretty remarkable for me."

The 'Fetish' hitmaker has since rekindled her relationship with former flame Justin Bieber - whom she had an on/off relationship with from 2010 to 2015 - and admits she chose to get back in touch with the 23-year-old star because she still "cherishes" him.

When asked by Billboard magazine - who have named her Woman of the Year for 2017 - about her relationship with the 'Love Yourself' singer, she said: "I'm 25. I'm not 18, or 19, or 20. I cherish people who have really impacted my life. So maybe before, it could have been forcing something that wasn't right. But that doesn't mean caring for someone ever goes away."

It comes after the 'Starboy' hitmaker, 27, recently made the move to remove all photos of Selena from his Instagram account.

Abel - who is reportedly back in touch with former flame Bella Hadid following his split from Selena - previously had a number of sweet snaps of Selena on his page, including one dating back to April this year in which she is seen clutching his face and giving him a kiss on the cheek.

By contrast, the 'Bad Liar' singer still has a series of pictures featuring her ex on her own Instagram page.

Among the pictures still appearing on Selena's Instagram is one of her first red carpet appearance alongside Abel at the Met Gala in May.

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