We Almost Had a Queer ‘Wizards of Waverly Place’ Romance Between Selena Gomez and Hayley Kiyoko

Alright, let’s gather around because we have some new magical discoveries. According to Peter Murrieta, the executive producer and head writer of Disney’s Wizards of Waverly Place, main character Alex Russo, played by Selena Gomez, was supposed to be bisexual. And even better, her love interest would’ve been the character Stevie, played by Hayley Kiyoko.

In a recent episode of Wizards of Waverly Pod, hosted by Jennifer Stone and David DeLuise who played Alex’s best friend Harper and her dad Jerry respectively, the duo chat with Murrieta about this possibility. When Murrieta was asked about what storylines he wish he could covered, his answer was already top of mind. 

“Easy, easy, easy, easy. I wished we could have played more with what was quite obvious to a lot of us, the relationship between Stevie and Alex,” said Murrieta. “But we weren’t able to in that time…it was pretty clear to all of us what that relationship was. That would’ve been fun.”

Excuse us. We’re just over here mourning what could have been. 

In Wizards, Alex was a high school student juggling class and magic. Stevie, a fellow wizard, appeared in the third season of the show, where she and Alex meet in detention. Unfortunately, we were only able to get time with Stevie for four episodes that season, but the impact is there. While the two characters bonded over being wizards, keen viewers can pick up what the writers were trying to put down. 

“If we were just a few years down the line, we maybe could have played with that,” stated Stone. 

And she’s right. The original run of Wizards of Waverly Place was from 2007 to 2012. The first LGBTQ+ didn’t show up on Disney Channel until 2014, when the show Good Luck Charlie highlighted a lesbian couple in one of its episodes. 

“At the time, [LGBTQ+ characters in Disney shows] wasn’t a thing,” said Murrieta. “But we got as close as we could. I mean it was pretty close. It was pretty much right there.”

Murrieta is right. They did get pretty close. So much so that there’s fan fiction dedicated to this magical duo called “Stalex”, if you will. Well, while we mourn what could have been, there’s always room for fanfiction… and Kiyoko’s take on the situation. 

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by hayley kiyoko (@hayleykiyoko)

Check out the full episode of Wizards of Waverly Pod below.

Related:

Turns Out Cara Delevingne Really Liked Smoochin’ Selena Gomez

On “Only Murders in the Building”