The third season of Disney’s Wizards of Waverly Place introduced a young wizard, Stevie Nichols. Portrayed by Hayley Kiyoko, Stevie joined Selena Gomez’s Alex Russo, and the two became very good friends before their relationship ended in episode 15 of the third season. While they stayed friends throughout their time in the show, the showrunner also had another storyline for these characters.
During his recent appearance on Wizards of the Waverly Pod, creator and writer of the show, Peter Murrieta, shared what exactly he planned for Alex and Stevie and how Disney refused to follow through with it.
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Creator’s Plans For Selena Gomez And Hayley Kiyoko’s Characters
The creator and writer of Wizards of Waverly Place, Peter Murrieta, joined Jennifer Stone and David DeLuise on their podcast. While talking about the show, he also talked about a storyline he was interested in exploring but wasn’t able to.
He shared that he wanted to explore the relationship between Selena Gomez and Hayley Kiyoko’s characters. He mentioned how the connection between them was “quite obvious,” and they could have “played more with that.” Despite their relationship being “pretty clear” to everyone, he was not able to portray them as more than friends in the show.
“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. We weren’t able to in that time, but it was pretty clear to all of us what that relationship was. That would have been fun.”
He shared that if they could have been just a few years ahead in time, they would have been able to do that. The host of the podcast, Jennifer Stone, also mentioned that it would have been possible nowadays. Murrieta also talked about an alternate ending for the show, which would have focused on Selena Gomez and Gregg Sulkin’s characters.
Hayley Kiyoko’s Character Sparked a Gay Awakening
Hayley Kiyoko came out as a lesbian with her 2015 song, Girls like Girls. She mentioned how she was not sure how this song would be received by the audience. Kiyoko also shared that many outlets even refused to premiere the song as they found it too “explicit.” However, she was able to discover her community after coming out with her song.
Although she was not out as a lesbian while her time on Wizards of Waverly Place, she believes her character helped many to come to terms with their identity. During an interview, she shared that she was hesitant to be her true self during her time on the show. Even after that, her character, Stevie, became “a part of their gay awakening,” as she was not able to “mask [her] lesbian energy” while working on the show.
Wizards of Waverly Place is available to stream on Disney+.
Source: Wizards of Waverly Pod
