She may love it when he calls her “Señorita,” but Camila Cabello wasn’t sure what to call Shawn Mendes when their platonic relationship turned romantic.
The “Living Proof” singer, 22, commented on the awkward transition on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon on Thursday, December 5, after seeing photos of her prior appearance with Mendes, 21, on the NBC late-night show.
“We were awkward and nervous and weird, and now we’re older and nervous and weird,” she joked. “It’s kind of weird in the beginning, right? Like, it took me, like, two months to be able to call him ‘baby’! Like, I could not. I didn’t want to say his name, because we were dating, and I couldn’t call him ‘baby,’ so I was like, ‘Hey! You!’ … It’s weird. But it’s great.”
Another adjustment for Cabello? Talking about the “In My Blood” singer to her circle of friends and family. “The people around you already know them ‘cause you’ve known them for a long time,” she explained to host Jimmy Fallon. “So it’s just like, ‘And, uh, now we kiss and hold hands!’”
The Fifth Harmony alum also discussed her and Mendes’ early days on The Ellen DeGeneres Show on Friday, December 6. “I met him on the Austin Mahone tour like five or six years ago,” she recalled. “I for sure had a crush on him there. We were stupid … I think we both had a crush but we were being babies about it. But we’re grown now!”
The couple reconnected while recording this summer’s hit song “Señorita,” then showed off their chemistry with a steamy performance of the song at the 2019 American Music Awards in November.
“Shawn and Camila started off as just friends, which they have been for years, but the more time they spent together, the more they started having feelings for each other,” a source told Us Weekly in July. “It quickly turned into a fun, lighthearted summer fling-type situation, but now it’s developing into something more serious.”
Cabello, whose split from ex-boyfriend Matthew Hussey made headlines days after the debut of “Señorita,” also told Ellen DeGeneres on Friday that her love life influenced her new album, Romance, released the same day. “I’ve fallen in love and out of love and in love,” she said. “And that’s basically what this album is about … falling in love and what that feels like.”
The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon airs on NBC weeknights at 11:35 p.m. ET. Check local listings for The Ellen DeGeneres Show.
