A “Wizards Of Waverly Place” Showrunner Confirmed The Long-Running Theory That Selena Gomez’s Character Alex Was Bisexual And Explained Why They “Weren’t Able” To Explore It

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Selena Gomez was just 15 years old when she landed the lead role in the Disney Channel series Wizards of Waverly Place.

  Adam Rose / Disney Channel via Getty Images
Adam Rose / Disney Channel via Getty Images

Selena portrayed Alex Russo on the show, which aired from 2007 to 2012 and quickly garnered a huge fanbase.

  Bruce Birmelin / Disney General Entertainment Content via Getty Images
Bruce Birmelin / Disney General Entertainment Content via Getty Images

In 2010, fellow Disney Channel alum Hayley Kiyoko made an appearance on Wizards as Stevie Nichols.

  Adam Rose / Disney Channel via Getty Images
Adam Rose / Disney Channel via Getty Images

And while she only appeared in four episodes, viewers theorized that there was a romantic spark between Stevie and Alex — something that was never addressed by the Disney Channel.

  Eric Mccandless / Disney Channel via Getty Images
Eric Mccandless / Disney Channel via Getty Images

But now, over a decade later, Wizards of Waverly Place showrunner Peter Murrieta has confirmed that fans were totally right about Alex and Stevie’s chemistry.

  Paul Archuleta / FilmMagic
Paul Archuleta / FilmMagic

Appearing on the Wizards of Waverly Pod podcast this Monday, which is hosted by former Wizards cast members David DeLuise and Jennifer Stone, Peter was asked if there were any storylines on the show that he’d have liked to explore further.

“Easy, easy, easy,” he replied. “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.”

  Adam Rose / Disney Channel via Getty Images
Adam Rose / Disney Channel via Getty Images

“We weren’t able to in that time, but it was pretty clear to all of us what that relationship was,” he said. “And that would have been fun.”

  Adam Rose / Disney Channel via Getty Images
Adam Rose / Disney Channel via Getty Images

Jennifer and David noted that the LGBTQ storyline could easily be explored on Disney, to which Pete agreed: “Yeah, they did it. Disney Channel has had [LGBTQ] characters, and they did it.”

  Peter
Peter "hopper" Stone / Disney Channel via Getty Images

“At that time, it wasn’t a thing,” he explained. “But, we got as close as we could... I mean it was pretty close. It was pretty much right there.”

  Alberto E. Rodriguez / Getty Images
Alberto E. Rodriguez / Getty Images

Reacting to the clip on social media, several fans praised Peter for being open about Alex’s sexuality.

  Eric Mccandless / Disney Channel via Getty Images
Eric Mccandless / Disney Channel via Getty Images

“finally someone acknowledging disney past queer coded characters,” one TikTok user wrote.

  Craig Sjodin / Disney Channel via Getty Images
Craig Sjodin / Disney Channel via Getty Images

“The fact that they couldn’t go all out but still leaned in as far as they could,” another person added alongside several clapping emojis.

  Craig Sjodin / Disney Channel via Getty Images
Craig Sjodin / Disney Channel via Getty Images

“ALEX RUSSO CANON BISEXUAL I’VE WAITED FOR THIS MY WHOLE LIFE,” one fan tweeted.

“ALEX AND STEVIE WERE A THING CONFIRMED,” another person wrote.

This comes a year after Hayley opened up about her experience of playing Stevie on Wizards before coming out as a lesbian in real life.

  Jc Olivera / Getty Images
Jc Olivera / Getty Images

“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,” she said.

  Alberto E. Rodriguez / Getty Images
Alberto E. Rodriguez / Getty Images

“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,” she added.

  Craig Sjodin / Disney Channel via Getty Images
Craig Sjodin / Disney Channel via Getty Images

You can listen to the Wizards of Waverly Pod podcast here.

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