‘Selena: The Real Story’ hints at an alleged affair between the Tejano star and her doctor Ricardo Martinez
Ever since her monumental rise to fame and untimely death, many have speculated about the details of Tejano superstar Selena’s personal life.
During her time with the band Selena y Los Dinos, the young star fell in love with guitarist Chris Perez. The two eloped and planned to keep their marriage a secret from her father, but Selena was forced to come clean when media stations began reporting their nuptials before they even got back home.
So how is it possible that the star, who could not make any moves without them immediately becoming breaking news managed to conceal a relationship with her doctor, Ricardo Martinez?
In ‘Selena: The Real Story’, the star’s relationship with Martinez gets a brief mention. Martinez, the special says, became intertwined with Selena by promising her he would use his contacts to help her expand her fashion business into Mexico. He also offered to perform liposuction on her, however many have pointed out that due to her age it is unlikely the procedure ever happened.
Their relationship, as the special says, would go on to become intimate, much to the chagrin of Selena’s manager and eventual murderer, Yolanda Saldivar.
While Martinez himself has maintained that they were in a relationship at the time of her death, Selena’s family has denied it. Biographies speaking about Selena’s life have also often included details about their relationship, with some going as far as claiming the singer was planning on running away with Martinez before she was killed. Their evidence? A fully packed suitcase and a work permit for Mexico found in the hotel room she was staying in at the time of her death.
The singer’s killer Yolanda added fuel to the fire when she claimed the singer was pregnant when she killed her, a claim that was contradicted by autopsy reports during the murder trial. If the singer was, in fact, pregnant then her attempting to run away to Mexico with Martinez to start a boutique there would have been exceptionally scandalous, given that the singer was still married to Perez and was at the height of her hard-earned fame.
Coming from an extremely poor background, Selena managed to break into the male-dominated Tejano music industry and eventually brought Tejano music to the world, making history in the process.
It is understandable, therefore, that her family would have wanted to prevent any stories about her relationship with Martinez being publicized, whether they were true or not. The Quintanillas, as sole owners of all media reproductions of Selena even took the late singer’s ex-husband Perez to court for trying to turn his memoir about Selena into a TV show.
Selena’s alleged relationship with Martinez would taint her legacy and take away from her accomplishments as both the Queen of Tejano music and as a fashion icon. And yet, it is also a very important part of the young star’s life and death.