Selena Gomez Almost Starred In A "Lizzie McGuire" Spinoff, And I'll Never Forgive Disney For Robbing Us Of That

1 year ago 7

When it comes to Lizzie McGuire, the idea of actually seeing a series spinoff at this point seems improbable.

At first, Disney played a game of will-they/won't-they with my emotions after it was announced that a Lizzie McGuire reboot was in the works starring a good portion of the original cast, including Hilary Duff.

The reboot was expected to follow 30-year-old Lizzie living in New York City, navigating life, dating, friends, and her career. And I was so ready for that, because not only was I living the same life, but so were a lot of the people who grew up watching Lizzie McGuire.

But that idea was quickly squashed after Disney disagreed with the adult scenarios the writers were putting Lizzie in. While the cast was excited for the new approach, Disney wouldn't budge. The reboot, as we know it, is no longer happening.

So, you can imagine my surprise when I learned that this wasn't the first time the Lizzie universe was supposed to get another show. According to a recent interview on the Wizards of Waverly Pod, a Lizzie McGuire spinoff starring Selena Gomez was in the works.

The podcast hosts — Wizards of Waverly Place stars Jennifer Stone and David DeLuise — sat down with their former costar Jennifer Canals-Barrera to share some behind-the-scenes details about the popular Disney Channel show.

"I had done a different pilot with Selena," Maria revealed. "It was the spinoff of Lizzie McGuire."

"I was cast as her mom. It did not get picked up, but they obviously believed and loved the star that they found in Selena."

The show was going to be called What's Stevie Thinking? and would feature 12-year-old Selena as Stevie Sanchez — little sister of Lizzie's best friend, Miranda Sanchez. The show was going to focus on Stevie's middle school journey.

But even though the premise was never picked up, Selena would eventually land another Disney Channel show (and one of my personal favorites), Wizards of Waverly Place. And Maria found herself playing Selena's mom once again.

At the time, Wizards of Waverly Place was originally named The Amazing O'Malleys. But after a few chemistry reads and casting choices, the rest is history.

And as much as I don't want to get stuck in the past, I can't help but imagine what that Selena spinoff would've been like. But there is a chance that if that spinoff did happen, we wouldn't have had Wizards of Waverly Place, and I'm not ready for a reality like that.

To learn more about Maria and the show, check out her full interview with The Wizards of Waverly Pod below:

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