Selena Gomez on Disney not picking her 2 spinoff pilots
What's the story
Selena Gomez, the star of Wizards of Waverly Place (2007-2012), recently opened up about two of her pilots that didn't get picked up by Disney Channel. Speaking on the Therapuss podcast, she said, "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."
Rejection response
'I was at my wits' end'
Gomez said, "I was at my wits' end" after her pilots were not picked up. However, she didn't take it negatively. "I just kind of thought, 'OK, well this is not going to work out,'" she said. After appearing as Gwen in a 2006 episode of The Suite Life (2005-2008), Gomez filmed a pilot for a spinoff called Arwin!, where Brian Stepanek's character leaves the Tipton to raise his sister's three kids.
Another pilot
'It was an immediate feeling of...'
In addition to Arwin!, Gomez also starred in What's Stevie Thinking?, where she played Stevie Sanchez, the younger sister of Miranda Sanchez from Lizzie McGuire. "It was an immediate feeling of, 'Oh, I achieved my dream' at that point in time," she said about her eventual success with Wizards of Waverly Place. "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."
New season
Meanwhile, 'Wizards Beyond Waverly Place' is premiering soon
On Thursday, Disney Channel dropped a teaser for Wizards Beyond Waverly Place. Season 2 of the Waverly Place spinoff will premiere with two episodes on September 12, and all episodes will be available on JioHotstar by October 8. Gomez's career took a major turn after Wizards of Waverly Place was picked up by Disney Channel, marking a significant milestone in her journey.