Selena Gomez has experienced enough unfair for a lifetime since breaking out on Disney’s Wizards Of Waverly Place nearly 15 years ago. Most recently, Gomez sadly felt the need to explain that holding on to water weight is a side effect of her Lupus medication. Then, she announced she’d be “taking a second from social media” after fans began theorizing (again) she’s feuding with Hailey Bieber and Kylie Jenner (as outlined by Complex).
So, it makes all the sense in the world that Gomez wanted to reminisce on simpler times with her former Wizards co-stars Jennifer Stone and David DeLuise on their Wizards Of Waverly Pod re-watch podcast. The latest episode featuring Gomez dropped today, February 27. (Wizards Of Waverly Place aired for four seasons from 2007 to 2012, including Wizards Of Waverly Place: The Movie in 2009.)
Roughly 16 minutes in, Gomez made DeLuise tear up by explaining that her castmates and crew on the show made her feel “safe, and that’s a really hard thing for me to feel, and I know that you guys love me for me.” She continued, “You guys genuinely loved me, and that’s all I could have asked for. The unconditional trust and bond we had, I miss so much.”
Three minutes later, Stone related to how hindsight has helped them all “appreciate” the show “so much more,” which prompted Gomez to elaborate on her earlier point.
“I can’t begin to tell you guys without making it such a little cry session. I felt like I was the happiest I’d been in my whole life,” she said. “And I don’t want that to be a sad thought because I’m really grateful and happy, but it was definitely the happiest times for me, and I recognize that, obviously, I have this different attention on me that I just didn’t have then and that was a really pure time.”
At the half-hour mark, DeLuise asked Gomez for her “biggest mistake so far” and directed that she wasn’t allowed to “say a boy’s name.” As if she hadn’t tugged at fans’ heartstrings before now, she answered, “You know what? Probably not staying in touch with you guys. I think I slowly became kind of shamed. I felt ashamed of the decisions that I made, and I didn’t want you guys to see me in the state that I was in because A) you would’ve told me the truth, which terrifies me and B) I didn’t want to let you down.”
Gomez’s fans have gotten a lot of painful introspection and vulnerability from her lately. Her AppleTV+ documentary My Mind & Me premiered in early November, and it was accompanied by an evocative single of the same name. In the ensuing months, Gomez has teased more lighthearted music is on the way.
As for acting, Gomez has impressed for two seasons on Hulu’s Only Murders In The Building alongside Martin Short and Steve Martin. The Emmy-winning series will have a third season, adding the likes of Meryl Streep and Paul Rudd to its ensemble cast.
Watch Gomez on the fourth episode of Wizards Of Waverly Pod above.
