Yahoo Movies Wizards of Waverly Place showrunner wishes they could've explored Alex and Stevie's relationship more
If only Wizards of Waverly Place showrunner Peter Murrieta had a magic wand.
During a recent interview on the rewatch podcast Wizards of Waverly Pod, Murrieta told hosts (and series stars) Jennifer Stone and David DeLuise that there was one storyline that he wishes the Disney Channel original series could have explored: a potential romantic relationship between Selena Gomez's Alex and Hayley Kiyoko's Stevie, affectionately dubbed Stalex by fans.
"I wished we could have played more with what was quite obvious to a lot of us," he said of the pairing. "We weren't able to in that time, but it was pretty clear to all of us what that relationship was."
Adam Rose/Disney Channel via Getty Selena Gomez and Hayley Kiyoko on 'Wizards of Waverly Place'
Stone agreed, and said that the show — which ran from 2007 to 2012 — might have been able to go there a few years down the road.
Murrieta replied, "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… I mean, it was pretty close." He added, "That would have been great." (EW has reached out to Disney Channel for comment.)
Although it's not canon, many fans of the show have long shipped a romantic relationship between Alex and Stevie, which the stars themselves are very aware of. Posting a snippet of the interview on her TikTok, Stone, who played Harper on the series, wrote in the caption, "We know you wanted Stalex… we wanted it too."
Kiyoko, who is a lesbian but wasn't out during her time on the show, has also spoken about how Stevie sparked a "gay awakening" for certain fans.
"At this time, I wasn't openly queer, and so when I was on Wizards, I think anytime I was doing a show I felt very insecure or exposing myself as a flaming lesbian," she said in an interview with Them last year. "But obviously [for] the fans who have watched the show, Stevie is a part of their gay awakening, and I wasn't able to mask my lesbian energy very much in the character."
During the podcast, Murrieta also discusses how he got involved with the show, his favorite episodes, the scene he found most challenging to film, the true ending to the series, and more. Check that out in the video above.
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