Selena Gomez continues to grace the headlines these past weeks as her single, ‘Good for You,’ climbs the charts amid the pop star’s celebration of her 23rd birthday.
With a new album dropping soon, the ‘Come & Get It’ singer opened up about looking back at her Disney Channel roots as well as recognizing the channel's major celebrities who helped her in becoming a Disney star herself- including Disney queens Hilary Duff and Raven Symone.
In the midst of promoting her new track on the ‘Zang Sang and The Gang’ radio show, Gomez was keen to open up about taking inspiration from the two stars over the past years.
"She [Duff] was my world when I was ten," the ‘Wizards of Waverly Place’ gushed. "I was obsessed. I absolutely think she did that. So did Raven Symone. I think they were both two very strong female characters and in that way they're very iconic."
With Duff taking on the titular character, ‘Lizzie McGuire’ became popular as a live-action teen sitcom that also starred Adam Lamberg and Lalaine Vergara as Gordo and Miranda- Lizzie’s best friends with whom she shares her ups and downs in middle school life.
As for ‘That’s So Raven,' Symone takes on the role of Raven Baxter who is well known for seeing glimpses of the future and shares her schemes and adventures with her best pals Eddie (Orlando Brown) and Chelsea (Anneliese Van Der Pol).
"Especially the Lizzie McGuire Movie, you guys," Gomez added. "I mean, legit, that's Disney's peak... It's genius."
For Duff, the mother-of-one focuses more on her career these days after landing a role in a TV series and coming up with a new pop album.
"Everyone knows a lot of what goes on in my personal life, and thank God I have exciting things happening in my professional life as well, like the show and my record,” Duff said.
The former teen idol has also acknowledged how starring in ‘Lizzie McGuire’, one of her first acting gigs, has boosted her career, and yet, has also become one of the most difficult things to deal with in the past years.
"As torturous as it has been at some points in my life to be Lizzie McGuire, I think that when that show came out, it was such a part of who I was, I didn't feel like I was playing a part," Duff told PrideSource.
"The writers all knew me so well and were writing things that were happening in my life and things that I would say, and I was dressing exactly like I wanted. It was so me,” the 27-year-old actress added.
However, the ‘Wake Up’ singer admitted that it has been challenging to always be linked to such character, especially after becoming more mature and wanting to take on new directions.
"I just didn't know what a success the show was gonna be, and after that — four years, five years after that — and I was still Lizzie McGuire to people and that was super annoying,” she revealed.
Duff’s TV series, ‘Younger,’ first aired on TV Land last Mar. 1 and has already been renewed for a second season after raking in positive reviews.
