Selena Gomez on Scrapped 2005 "Lizzie McGuire" Spin-off

[JamesG]

Selena Gomez’s "Lizzie McGuire" and "Suite Life" Spin-offs Got Axed at Disney before "Wizards of Waverly Place"
by Ellise Shafer
Aug. 7, 2025


Before Selena Gomez landed the lead role on Disney Channel’s “Wizards of Waverly Place”, she filmed pilots for spin-offs of two of the network’s most popular shows: “Lizzie McGuire” and “The Suite Life of Zack & Cody”.

In a new interview with Jake Shane on his “Therapuss” podcast, Gomez reflected on her rise to fame as a teen after being featured on “Barney & Friends” as a child.

In 2005, Gomez was set to star in “What’s Stevie Thinking?” as Stephanie “Stevie” Sanchez, the younger sister of Lalaine Vergara-Paras’ character Miranda.




“It was actually a weird thing because I was on three pilots for the Disney Channel: one was the spinoff of ‘Lizzie McGuire,’ one was the spinoff of ‘The Suite Life of Zack & Cody’ and the last one was ‘Wizards,'” she said.

“So by then, all of them didn’t get picked up and I was just kind of at my wits’ end, but not in a bad way. I just kind of thought, ‘OK, well this is not going to work out.'”




Now that “Wizards of Waverly Place” has been rebooted as “Wizards Beyond Waverly Place”, and renewed for a second season, Gomez said that she has finally achieved her dream.

“It was an immediate feeling of, ‘Oh, I achieved my dream’ at that point in time,” Gomez said. “I was such a huge fan of the channel. I was a huge fan of what they did for our generation, and it was an honor. I wear it proudly. I definitely am not ashamed of being part of the Disney high school experience.”

https://variety.com/2025/tv/news/sel...ds-1236481287/