In what can only be seen as yet another blow for 2020, Hilary Duff has announced that the Disney+ Lizzie Maguire reboot will not be going ahead after all. 

In a statement posted on Instagram, the star revealed that “efforts and conversations” to try and make the reboot work hadn’t come together – and that, despite her hopes for the series, the Disney+ revival of the show would no longer be happening.

“I’ve been so honoured to have the character of Lizzie in my life,” the statement began. “She has made such a lasting impact on many, including myself. To see the fans’ loyalty and love for her, to this day, means so much to me.

“I know the efforts and conversations have been everywhere trying to make a reboot work but, sadly and despite everyone’s best efforts, it isn’t going to happen.”

Giving fans an insight into the struggles the Lizzie Maguire team had faced behind the scenes, including their attempts to navigate the PG restriction on the show, Duff continued: “I want any reboot of Lizzie to be honest and authentic to who Lizzie would be today. It’s what the character deserves.

“We can all take a moment to mourn the amazing woman she would have been and the adventures we would have taken with her. I’m very sad, but I promise everyone tried their best and the stars just didn’t align.

“Hey now, this is what 2020’s made of.”

Although fans of the show will be disappointed to hear that the reboot is no longer going ahead, it doesn’t come as much of a surprise.

After the show’s creator Terry Minsky stepped back from her role as showrunner in January citing “creative differences,” Duff took to Instagram in February to reveal that she was struggling with the limitations placed on the show due to Disney+’s younger audience, appealing to the platform to allow her team to move the show to Hulu, where they could portray a “real and relatable” version of the 30-year-old character.

“I feel a huge responsibility to honour the fans’ relationship with Lizzie who, like me, grew up seeing themselves in her,” she wrote at the time. “I’d be doing a disservice to everyone by limiting the realities of a 30-year-old’s journey to live under the ceiling of a PG rating.

“It’s important to me that just as her experiences as a preteen/teenager navigating life were authentic, her next chapters are equally as real and relatable.”

Confirming the news that the Lizzie McGuire reboot would no longer be going ahead, a spokesperson for Disney said: “Lizzie McGuire fans have high expectations for any new stories. Unless and until we are confident we can meet those expectations, we’ve decided to hold off and today, we informed the cast’s representatives that we are not moving forward with the planned series.”

While this latest news about the series is far from the update we wanted to hear, we remain hopeful in Duff’s ability to bring a real and authentic version of Lizzie back to our screens sometime in the future – and we can’t wait to see what’s in store for the beloved character. 

Image: Getty