Selena Gomez's "whole life changed" when she joined Wizards of Waverly Place.

The 33-year-old actress auditioned for a series of TV shows, including the spin-off of Lizzie McGuire, before she joined the cast of Wizards of Waverly Place, the hit Disney Channel sitcom.

Selena - who starred on the TV show between 2007 and 2012 - said on the Therapuss with Jake Shane podcast: "It was actually a weird thing because I was on three pilots for the Disney channel. One was the spin-off of Lizzie McGuire. One was the spin-off of the Suite Life of Zach and Cody and the last one was Wizards.

"So by then all of them didn't get picked up and I was just kind of at my wits end, but not in a bad way just kind of thought 'okay, well this is not going to work out' and Wizards got picked up and my whole life changed after that."

Selena still feels proud to be part of the "Disney high school experience".

The brunette beauty - who has also enjoyed huge success with her music - reflected: "It was an immediate feeling of oh I achieved my dream at that point in time.

"I was such a huge fan of the channel. I was a huge fan of what they did for our generation, and it was an honor. I wear it proudly. I definitely am not ashamed of being part of the Disney high school experience … It was all of us, all from the Jonas Brothers, to Miley [Cyrus] and Demi [Lovato], and then it was Zendaya. It was just so cool to see all the people you so 'went to school with' if you will. It's good to see them all do their thing."

Despite her success, Selena's family tried to ensure that she remained grounded.

The actress - who is now engaged to record producer Benny Blanco - said: "I just remember my mom being on my a** all the time about making sure that any sort of sudden exaggerated fan moment is meant to be treated with respect."