Wizards of Waverly Place star Jake T. Austin has admitted he was “disappointed” not to have been included in the reboot of the show.
He played wizard-in-training Max Russo in all four seasons of the beloved TV show, alongside Selena Gomez as his sister Alex and David Henrie as their brother Justin, and returned for the 2009 TV movie and special The Wizards Return in 2012.
However, when the show was rebooted, Jake was the only original star of the show not to have been invited back to make an appearance in Wizard Beyond Waverly Place.
While Henrie was a main character in the reboot, Selena also made several guest appearances, with Jake taking to his Instagram page to weigh in on his exclusion.
He wrote: “To all the Wizard fans, just wanted to say for the record how disappointed I am to have not been included in the spinoff.
“I was asked back in 2020 if I was interested in reprising my role and said that I was 100% in.
“Unfortunately, the powers that be decided to take the show in a different direction and my character wasn’t part of the equation.”
Jake went on to conclude: “Even though I wasn’t involved, I still have nothing but love for my former castmates and wish them continued success.”
Henrie acted as a producer on the show, as well as starring in it, and told TV insider that Jake was too “busy” to appear in the rebooted programme.
He said: “He’s busy. He’s got a lot going on in his life. We love him and wish him all the best with everything that he’s got going on in his life.”
The finale of the rebooted series aired on Tuesday (04.08.26), and David DeLuise - who played the Russo father in the original Wizards of Waverly Place - also took to Instagram to have his say on the exclusion of the original stars.
In an Instagram comment he called it a “missed opportunity”, and added: “It would not be over if the OG wizards were really there.”
