Hilary Duff is having a comeback and us Nineties and Noughties kids are so here for it.
The 38-year-old actress and singer was the pillar of many of our childhoods after starring in a number of throwback smash-hits, including: A Cinderella Story, Cheaper by the Dozen, Raise Your Voice, Agent Cody Banks, The Lizzie McGuire Movie, and, of course, the Lizzie McGuire series.
The former teen idol has a whole bunch of impressive accolades under her belt too, including a World Music Award, seven Kids' Choice Awards, four Teen Choice Awards, and two Young Artist Awards.
And, after an 18-year concert hiatus, Duff is back and touring the globe with her Small Rooms, Big Nerves mini tour, which kicked off this week (19 January).
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She's been sitting down for a number of interviews to promote the much-welcomed comeback and, in one, she seemed to 'confirm' a lesbian plot in very popular Disney film.
The military-comedy film in question is Cadet Kelly, which hit our screens way back in 2002, starring Duff as a clumsy teenage cadet named Kelly and Christy Carlson Romano as commanding officer Captain Jennifer Stone, who is determined to break her spirit.
Duff recently sat down with Vanity Fair to reminisce over all her old movies and dished a little more on Cadet Kelly, which many fans reckoned included some super sapphic moments between Kelly and Captain Stone when watching the first time around.
"I haven’t seen this movie in so long, and I don’t know if I should say this or not, but I know that, like the internet had this big thing that went on about like that, this is really like a lesbian love story," she said.
Duff wasn't just aware of the fan speculation that her and Romano's characters were lesbian, as she went on to share her wishes for Disney to make a sequel where their lesbian love story could have been explored.
"I’m just wondering why Disney didn’t want to like follow up with like the number two because 100 percent this seems like it would have gone in a great direction for the sequel," she said.
Back in 2022, Duff told Cosmopolitan that Cadet Kelly was 'a moment in the queer community', adding that she was happy 'if it helps anybody'.
Romano also seemed well aware of the discourse, saying in a YouTube video that she was 'very flattered' that her character was a 'sexual awakening for a lot of the girls'.
"What I find interesting about the interpretation of the relationship between Kelly and Captain Stone is that there is a narrative that is in the culture right now that people are saying maybe they were in love, maybe there was an undercurrent of tension between the two girls," she said. "It really helped a lot of girls identify their sexuality."
Topics: Celebrity, LGBTQ, TV And Film, Disney
Rhiannon Ingle