Selena Gomez received praise from her Wizards of Waverly Place co-star David Henrie this week, ahead of the premiere of the spin-off Wizards Beyond Waverly Place.

The 32-year-old actress, who reunites with Henrie, 35, in the new series, is currently dating music producer Benny Blanco. Henrie expressed his pride in seeing Gomez ‘settle into herself’ as she matures.

Speaking to People, he said, “She’s continued to become more mature. She’s really coming into her own and taking control of her life.”

Henrie added, “It’s been amazing to watch her grow into a beautiful woman.”

Henrie, who played Gomez’s onscreen brother Justin Russo in the original show that aired from 2007 to 2012, will see Gomez reprise her role as Alex Russo in the pilot episode, with both stars serving as executive producers.

The record producer also previously stated that having children is his ‘next goal’ on The Howard Stern Show in May.

At one point, Stern said that he predicted marriage in their future and Blanco replied with, ‘You and me both…I gotta get my act together!’

Stern also asked, ‘When will you propose? You should make the announcement now. When are you going to propose to your very famous girlfriend Selena?’

And Blanco answered, ‘When I look at her…I’m always just like, I don’t know a world where it could be better than this.’

He further gushed, ‘People always said this to me, when you know you meet your best friend, she truly is my best friend,’ and added that Selena is ‘the coolest, nicest, sweetest…’

Elsewhere during the interview, the songwriter talked about wanting a family in the future. ‘That’s like my next goal on the box. I have a lot of God kids, I’ve got a ton of nephews. It’s my thing, I love being around kids!’