Hilary Duff isn’t done sharing her side of the canceled Lizzie McGuire reboot. Ever since the grown-up spin on the hit family sitcom was axed in 2020 before it premiered on Disney+, Duff has been increasingly vocal about why her show was never completed.
In a new interview with Women’s Health published today, Duff said Disney+ was “spooked” by the more mature themes in the show, which would have focused on a 30-year-old version of Lizzie. Duff told the magazine of her beloved character, “She had to be 30 years old doing 30-year-old things.”
“She didn’t need to be doing bong rips and having one-night stands all the time, but it had to be authentic,” she added. “I think they got spooked.”
Her latest comments come after Duff called the Lizzie McGuire cancellation “a big disappointment” in a March 2021 interview with Good Morning America. At the time, she said Disney+ only filmed two episodes before calling off the show for good. Shooting those episodes “was a really special two weeks of my life,” Duff said.
Duff starred as the titular character on Lizzie McGuire from 2001 through 2004, and played Lizzie in 2003’s The Lizzie McGuire Movie. Years after playing the role, Duff shared her vision for the adult Lizzie, telling GMA, “I think she would be quirky, I think that she would struggle with confidence, but I think at the end of the day, she finds her footing. That’s what’s so lovely about her, and that’s what is so relatable, is that she doesn’t have all the answers right away, but she’s on the right path.”
Disney+’s Lizzie McGuire reboot got off to a rough start before crumbling altogether. Showrunner and Lizzie McGuire creator Terri Minski left the series in January 2020, with a Disney spokesperson stating at the time, “we concluded that we need to move in a different creative direction and are putting a new lens on the show.”
Duff announced the end of the series nearly a year later in December 2020, telling her fans in a message posted to Instagram, “sadly & despite everyone’s best efforts, it isn’t going to happen.”
While Duff didn’t return to her Disney Channel past, the cancellation of the Lizzie McGuire reboot opened a new door for the former teen star. With her schedule clear, she could sign on to How I Met Your Father, a How I Met Your Mother spinoff that’s since been renewed for a second season after premiering on Hulu in January.
