After selling her Wizards of Waverly Place wand for $4, Selena Gomez (not Alex Russo) returns to her old stomping grounds in her new music video with Benny Blanco for “Younger and Hotter Than Me.” Gomez wakes up in an abandoned studio set covered in sheets that look eerily familiar to the living room set for her Disney Channel show. “Wish I never loved you/ We’re not getting any younger/ But your girlfriends seem to,” Gomez sings as she haunts on the studio lot. She walks by teenagers dancing in a High School Musical-esque set before Blanco stops by to have lunch with her. But as Blanco leaves, it’s clear that Gomez is stuck on a set filled with child stars well after they’ve gone home.
Blanco explains the struggle of graduating from child stardom in a behind-the-scenes video for the song, as Gomez nods her head in agreement. He shares, “You’re left in this world where you’re in limbo where you’re going to make it to this next chapter in your life or you’re going to fade off into obscurity, and it’s a lot of pressure put on people at such a young age.” Despite moving on to Only Murders in the Building and that one movie, Gomez still holds fond memories of her time with the mouse. She briefly returned to Waverly Place, reprising her role as Alex Russo for two episodes in the sequel series, Wizards Beyond Waverly Place. Fingers crossed, she picked up a replacement wand.
