Selena Gomez set to return for Wizards of Waverly Place sequel series

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Selena Gomez is set to reprise her role as Alex Russo in a reboot of Wizards of Waverly Place.

The Disney Channel fantasy sitcom originally ran from 2007 to 2012, and helped to launch Gomez’s career.

As Deadline reports, Disney has now ordered a pilot for a reboot of the series, which will also see David Henrie return as Gomez’s onscreen sibling Justin.

Gomez was recently cast as folk rock trailblazer Linda Ronstadt in an upcoming biopic.

The original Wizards of Waverly Place centered on teenage wizards living on the titular street in New York’s Greenwich Village.

The new series will reportedly pick up its story after a mysterious incident at WizTech, where an adult Justin Russo has neglected his wizard powers in favour of pursuing a normal, human life with his wife and two sons.

However, he is drawn back into the world of magic when a powerful young wizard turns up at his door in search of training, and Justin realises he must embrace his past to secure the future of the Wizard World.

Last year, Gomez told her Wizards of Waverly Place costars that her “biggest mistake” was losing touch with them.

She was appearing on the Wizards of Waverly Pod podcast with her former costars Jennifer Stone and David DeLuise – who played her best friend and father, respectively.

During a Q&A segment of the podcast, Gomez was asked what her “biggest mistake” was, to which she replied: “Probably not staying in touch with you guys.”

“I felt ashamed of the decisions that I made,” the Only Murders in the Building star explained.“I didn’t want you guys to see me in the state that I was in because A, you would have told me the truth which terrifies me, and B, I didn’t want to let you down.”

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DeLuise responded: “That’s really sweet and thank you for saying that. We obviously… I miss you and I’m happy you’re doing well now.”

Stone, meanwhile, opened up about how she felt when their friendship fell off.

“I appreciate you saying that too,” she said. “To be perfectly blunt... there has been times where I’m like … ‘Did we stop being friends because I didn’t tell her what she wanted to hear,’ you know what I mean… so I appreciate you being here.”

“I appreciate you guys… dearly and I love you so much in a way that I’ve never loved anybody else,” Gomez added.

Gomez has been open about her mental health struggles that have been exacerbated by the showbiz industry and her stardom from a young age.

“I think when I started hitting my early twenties is when it started to get really dark, when I started to feel like I was not in control of what I was feeling, whether that was really great or really bad,” Gomez said in 2022.