Disney producer Peter Murrieta wanted to explore the relationship between Alex Russo and Stevie, but the Mouse House was not ready for a same-sex couple back then.
- March 29, 2023
AceShowbiz - Selena Gomez's "Wizards of Waverly Place" character was initially planned to be bisexual. The 30-year-old actress portrayed Alex Russo on the Disney show between 2007 and 2012, and Peter Murrieta - the show's producer - has now revealed that the character was initially supposed to have been bisexual.
"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," Peter told the "Wizards of Waverly Pod" podcast.
The producer explained that the Disney Channel wasn't ready for a same-sex couple at the time. He said, "We weren't able to in that time - but it was pretty clear to all of us what that relationship was."
Peter subsequently conceded that the Disney Channel has made progress on LGBTQ issues over recent years. He explained, "Disney Channel has had [LGBTQ] characters, and they did it. At that time it wasn't a thing. But we got as close as we could … Pretty close. It was pretty much there. That would have been great."
Meanwhile, Selena previously revealed that she felt under "immense" pressure as a child star. The brunette beauty shot to fame as a child, starring on "Barney and Friends" in the early 2000s, and Selena admitted that she initially struggled to cope with the pressure that came her way.
She told Women's Wear Daily, "There was this immense amount of pressure I had growing up that I felt like I needed to be a good role model. And then I felt like maybe that was just unrealistic, and my life became very public really quickly, and I didn't know that I was going through my own journey with mental health at the time."
