As fans of the actor and singer-songwriter know well, Selena Gomez is best known for her chart-topping music, acclaimed on-screen roles in shows such as Only Murders in the Building, and for being one of the most followed people on Instagram. In a recent social media post, Gomez reminisced on the TV show that kick-started her career, Disney’s Wizards of Waverly Place, leaving fans of the hit Disney sitcom feeling very nostalgic.
In the Instagram post shared on Oct. 29, the “Come & Get It” hitmaker is shown standing beneath a “Waverly Pl” street sign, along with a caption that reads, “Where it all began.” As the Daily Mail notes, the real Waverly Place is located in New York City’s Greenwich Village and was the inspiration behind the hit Disney Channel series. After sharing the nostalgic snap, Gomez’s 353 million followers were quick to react, with one fan writing, “I wasn’t ready for this.”
“The nostalgia is hitting,” another user commented, while one fan also joked, “Alex Russo raised me” — referencing the Waverly Place character portrayed by Gomez throughout the show’s run between 2007 and 2012.
Speaking on Entertainment Weekly’s Awardist podcast in April 2022, Gomez paid tribute to the Disney Channel original, revealing that she “adored” her time on the show. “I felt like I did learn a lot. We actually had great writers — we had two writers that were on Friends — and we had an incredible director that we used for most of our seasons,” she added, before drawing comparisons between Wizards of Waverly Place’s Alex Russo and her Only Murders in the Building character, Mabel Mora. “I feel like Mabel is an older version of Alex in a way,” Gomez explained.
