Selena Gomez’s TV dad says she turned down 'Camp Rock' to let Demi Lovato have the part

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By VT

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A resurfaced 2020 interview with Selena Gomez's onscreen dad, David DeLuise, revealed that she turned down the lead role in Disney's Camp Rock movie series so Demi Lovato would be cast instead.

During a podcast interview with Wildchat Sports, DeLuise, who played the Gomez's father in Wizards of Waverly Place, revealed that the character Mitchie Torres was originally offered to the 'Same Old Love' singer.

"I've never really said this story, but they offered Camp Rock to Selena," David says in the interview after recounting a story of how he met Lovato. "Selena knew that if she passed on it, Demi would get the part. So she passed on it, which was very nice of her to do. And they were friends. They were on the show Barney together.”

The two former Disney starlets were very close friends at the time, having met on the set of Barney and Friends when they were around 10 years old.

They also started their Disney careers around the same time, with Gomez landing Wizards of Waverly Place in 2007, after guest starring stints on The Suite Life of Zack and Cody and Hannah Montana.

Lovato bagged herself a role on As the Bell Rings in 2007, as well as Camp Rock and later Sonny with a Chance. The singers, now both 30, even starred together in Princess Protection Program in 2009.

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Selena Gomez and Demi Lovato in Princess Protection Program. Credit: Maximum Film / Alamy

These days, though, Gomez is much closer to fellow singing superstar Taylor Swift, who she recently called her "only friend in the industry."

In an interview with Rolling Stone, Gomez discussed her battles with mental health as well as her new Apple TV+ documentary, My Mind and Me. She revealed that while she was struggling to deal with her mental health throughout her 20s, Swift was there for her.

"I never fit in with a cool group of girls that were celebrities," the 'Lose You To Love Me' singer said. "My only friend in the industry really is Taylor [Swift], so I remember feeling like I didn’t belong."

Immediately fans started speculating about her friendship with Raísa, who donated a kidney to Gomez back in 2017 as a result of the singer's battle with lupus.

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Credit: Instagram

After the quote was reposted to Instagram by E! News, she took to the comment section in a now-deleted response writing the word "interesting".

Featured image credit: Sipa US / Alamy