Why did Selena Gomez REJECT Alex Russo-based Wizards of Waverly Place spin-off? Here’s everything we know

Selena Gomez might be a popular singer and actress now but she started off being a Disney star. The 31-year-old featured in several projects before she got her breakthrough role as Alex Russo in the popular teen sitcom series Wizards of Waverly Place. Her rise to the spotlight led to her musical career which swiftly picked up pace. The Only Murders in the Building actress is now also an entrepreneur with her own beauty and makeup line Rare Beauty. 

The Come and Get It hitmaker has time and again been grateful about getting to work on the show. She has also been thankful for the learnings she got and the relationships she made during the show but it turns out Gomez rejected the offer for a Wizards of Waverly Place spin-off show based on her character Alex Russo. Here’s why she turned the offer down.

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Why did Selena Gomez REJECT Wizards of Waverly Place spin-off?

Jennifer Stone and David DeLuise who played Harper Finkle and Jerry Russo in Wizards of Waverly Place run a podcast titled Wizards of Waverly Place. During an episode, the two discussed the potential spin-off and why Gomez decided to turn the offer down. “I was told that Selena was offered to play in a Harper-Alex spin-off and she turned it down because she had a lot of other things to do,” said Stone. It wouldn’t be surprising with her work lineup.

“I get it, she had a million other things going on and she wanted to move forward. To be honest, I wanted to move forward as well. It would have been fantastic in retrospect, but where we both were at the time — like, we just wanted to explore other things,” she added musing about what the spin-off revolving around Gomez and her role in the show could have been like if they had considered the offer and eventually decided to accept it.

Meanwhile, the singer also made an appearance on the podcast earlier this year, reflecting on the mistakes she made and what she regrets doing after the show ended. Even though Gomez was very close to her co-stars, she slowly started drifting apart from them and she blamed herself for it. She divulged that she felt ashamed of the decisions that she made and didn’t want the cast to see her in that state because she was afraid of letting them down.

While Stone’s character played Alex Russo’s best friend in the show, DeLuise played the character’s father.  Wizards of Waverly Place ran for four seasons on Disney. It premiered on October 12, 2007, and wrapped up on January 6, 2012. Not only was it a hit online, but it also enjoyed massive viewership. It still remains a cultural favorite show of that time.

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