Singer Selena Gomez has more than 144 million followers on Instagram, which has made her the most-followed celebrity on the photo-sharing app for a few years. But on Monday, Portuguese soccer player Cristiano Ronaldo reportedly amassed even more followers.
Media reports say the two celebrities were separated by a few thousand likes on Monday — a number that could swing one way or another in a number of minutes if one wanted to upstage the other. But according to Gomez's last Instagram post on Sept. 23, she's taking a break from social media.
"As much as I am grateful for the voice that social media gives each of us, I am equally grateful to be able to step back and live my life present to the moment I have been given," Gomez writes. "Kindness and encouragement only for a bit!" She was also reportedly in treatment in mid October after suffering a panic attack.
The Grand Prairie native (who, fun fact, was named after Selena Quintanilla-Perez) was the first celebrity to amass 100 million followers on Instagram.
Elle magazine suggests Gomez's top spot on Instagram was one she wasn't "too keen on in the first place."
Ronaldo's social media presence, on the other hand, involves two Instagram posts in five hours: once asking fans to guess his whereabouts (which appears to be a paid partnership) and another in the gym. That second photo has nearly 5 million likes right now.
Don't call us surprised that a famous footballer could take the top spot on Instagram. Ronaldo is No. 3 on a list of the world's highest-paid athletes, according to Forbes, and is considered one of the greatest soccer players of all time. He has been accused of rape in a lawsuit, an allegation he said in an interview is "interfering in my life."
