Selena Gomez’s character in Disney Channel’s Wizards Of Waverly Place was meant to be bisexual, the show’s producer has revealed.
Peter Murrieta suggested the programme makers were not allowed to give Gomez‘s character a same-sex love interest on the teen sitcom.
The actress and singer had her breakthrough role on the show, which she starred on between 2007 and 2012.
The series centred around a teenage wizard living in New York and competing with her siblings to win custody of the family’s magical powers.
Gomez’s character Alex Russo had several male love interests, and for four episodes befriended a fellow wizard called Stevie, played by Hayley Kiyoko.
Speaking on the Wizards Of Waverly Pod, Mr Murrieta said he had hoped the relationship could have gone further.
“I wished we could have played more with what was quite obvious to a lot of us, which was the relationship between Stevie and Alex,” he said.
But Mr Murrieta suggested the Disney Channel was not quite ready then for an LGBTQ couple.
He added: “We weren’t able to in that time, but it was pretty clear to all of us what that relationship was.”
Selena Gomez starred on the show between 2007 and 2012
Fan theory about Gomez’s character confirmed
Podcast host Jennifer Stone suggested the channel has made progress since the show aired, which Mr Murrieta agreed with.
“Disney Channel has had [LGBTQ] characters, and they did it. At that time it wasn’t a thing,” he said.
“But we got as close as we could… Pretty close. It was pretty much there. That would have been great.”
His comments confirm a fan theory that the characters’ chemistry was more than platonic, with some viewers nicknaming the duo “Stalex”.
In an interview last year, Kiyoko – who is a lesbian – spoke about the experience of playing Stevie before she had come out.
She said: “At this time, I wasn’t openly queer, and so when I was on Wizards, I think anytime I was doing a show I felt very insecure or exposing myself as a flaming lesbian.
“But obviously, the fans who have watched the show, Stevie is a part of their gay awakening, and I wasn’t able to mask my lesbian energy very much in the character.”
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Gomez, who has previously been in relationships with Justin Bieber and The Weeknd, has spoken in the past about her own sexuality.
Asked by PrideSource in 2015 whether she had ever questioned her sexuality, she said: “Oh, I think everybody does, no matter who they are. I do, yeah, of course. Absolutely.
“I think it’s healthy to gain a perspective on who you are deep down, question yourself and challenge yourself; it’s important to do that.”