Selena Gomez reveals the two highly popular Disney shows she was rejected from

Selena Gomez is often linked to Disney Channel success, mainly because of Wizards of Waverly Place. That role is the one most people remember first. Yet it was not the first time she stepped onto a Disney set. In fact, before Alex Russo became her signature character, there were other projects. They were filmed, tested, and then set aside.

When she joined Jake Shane on the YouTube show Therapuss, Selena Gomez opened a part of her story that had stayed mostly in the background. She spoke about three pilots she filmed for the network. The first two were linked to well-known Disney titles, but neither moved forward. By the time the third came around, she admitted thinking her time with Disney might be ending. Her own words were that she was at [her] wits’ end and believed

“this is not going to work out.”

These are details that change how the early phase of her career is seen. For audiences who first met her as Alex, the idea of earlier rejections is less known. It shows that the path to the role was not without stops and starts.

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Two pilots that never made it past the first step

One of the cancelled projects was What’s Stevie Thinking?. It was planned as a spin-off from Lizzie McGuire, giving space to a different character’s perspective. The other, Arwin!, would have come from The Suite Life of Zack & Cody, focusing on a side character.

Both pilots were completed. Both were connected to existing series with established audiences. Neither was approved for a full season. This left Selena Gomez without a running show despite already being linked to familiar Disney settings.

Not long after, the third pilot she mentioned — Wizards of Waverly Place — was given the go-ahead. That approval changed the course of her work at the network.

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The series that shifted everything

Wizards of Waverly Place made its debut on October 12, 2007. Back then it was just another new Disney Channel show, but it stayed around. Four seasons, 106 episodes, running all the way until January 6, 2012. Somewhere in the middle, 2009 to be exact, it even picked up a Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Children’s Program.

Selena Gomez was Alex Russo, the teenager who had to deal with schoolwork, family drama, and the extra weight of learning magic. The show found its place fast and kept her face on TV week after week. While all that was happening, she slipped into Monte Carlo in 2011, and lent her voice to Mavis in Hotel Transylvania the following year. Not long after Wizards wrapped, she turned up in Spring Breakers (2012/2013), which was a sharp turn away from the kind of roles she had been doing until then

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The meaning of the first rejections

Those two unaired pilots are part of the documented timeline of her career. They mark a stage when success was not yet secure. Selena Gomez has been open about thinking the network might not keep her on after those setbacks. The decision on Wizards proved otherwise and came quickly after.

Since then, her work has expanded far beyond acting for television. She has released four studio albums and, in 2020, launched Rare Beauty, a cosmetics line that has grown into international markets. The mix of music, acting, and business has kept her active in multiple areas.

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Selena Gomez’s visibility in the present

Selena Gomez is currently well-known to streaming audiences through her role as Mabel Mora in Only Murders in the Building. The series blends humor and mystery and is distinct from her Disney work, attracting a different demographic.

Alongside that, her continued music career and the growth of her beauty brand mean her name appears in more than one industry at a time. Each platform reaches its own audience, which helps maintain her overall presence.

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From cancelled to celebrated

The shift from two cancelled pilots to a multi-season Disney success shows how quickly circumstances can reverse. The third pilot aligned with the channel’s plans and the tastes of its viewers, becoming the role that defined her early career.

After Wizards, her projects have included both light entertainment and more mature, high-profile films. The early rejections did not end her path but instead became part of the lead-up to a stronger match between role and performer.

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What is next?

There have been no announcements of new television pilots for Selena Gomez similar to those early days. Current work centers on Only Murders in the Building, new music, and expanding Rare Beauty. These keep her active across different markets and creative areas.

Her Disney years remain a key reference in her history. The pilots What’s Stevie Thinking? and Arwin! are remembered not for their content, but for their place in the sequence that led to Wizards of Waverly Place.

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Closing note

Selena Gomez’s connection to Disney Channel could have been defined by different titles if those spin-offs had been approved. Instead, both stayed in the archives, and the third pilot she worked on became one of the network’s most successful series of its time.

From that point forward, she moved into film roles, built a music career, and entered the beauty industry. The confirmed events show a path from early disappointments to lasting opportunities. Her story illustrates how a career can turn on one decision, even when the steps leading up to it seemed to point in another direction.