People.com Entertainment TV Stars Who Were on 'Barney & Friends' as Kids Selena Gomez, Demi Lovato and more stars who got their start on the popular kids' series By Kate Hogan Kate Hogan Instagram Twitter Kate Hogan is Director of Digital Specials and Features at PEOPLE. In her 14 years at the brand, she has covered everything from pets and babies to style and Sexiest Man Alive, interviewing celebrities including Céline Dion, Carrie Underwood, Jennifer Hudson and Chris Evans. Currently, she oversees the creation of photo galleries that complement breaking news and major PEOPLE moments like The Beautiful Issue and 100 Reasons to Love America. She has offered expert celebrity commentary on Good Morning America and Access Hollywood. Before joining PEOPLE in 2008, Kate was an editorial assistant at Morris Visitor Publications. She graduated from the University of Wisconsin-Madison with a Bachelor's degree in journalism and mass communication and resides outside of Chicago with her husband and three kids. People Editorial Guidelines Published on April 6, 2022 03:02 PM Share Tweet Pin Email 01 of 09 Barney & Friends Debuts Everett Thirty years ago today, a theme song lodged itself in the heads of children and parents for life — but a sweet show about friendship and caring also debuted on PBS, introducing some child stars who went on to accomplish great things. Catch up with the young stars of Barney & Friends (pictured here in 2004) on the 30th anniversary of the show's PBS premiere. 02 of 09 Selena Gomez Taylor Hill/FilmMagic What would the big purple dinosaur think of Gomez — who starred on 13 episodes from 2002 to 2004 — moving on to Only Murders in the Building? He'd probably be happy her character made such good friends. 03 of 09 Demi Lovato Rich Fury/Getty Barney would likely be glad to see Grammy nominee Lovato — who also did a handful of episodes in the early 2000s with fellow Disney Channel star Gomez — go on to receive GLAAD's Vanguard Award. 04 of 09 Melise Jeffrey Mayer/WireImage Credited as Malese Jow in her one episode on the show, the actress hasn't stopped working since her late '90s spot, appearing on everything from The Young and the Restless and Hannah Montana to Vampire Diaries and The Flash. 05 of 09 Madison Pettis Donato Sardella/Getty Many young stars, like Pettis, just passed through in the mid-2000s; she went on to do voice work on hits like Phineas and Ferb and Captin Jake and the Never Land Pirates before joining the 2021 She's All That remake, He's All That. 06 of 09 Jackson Pace Monica Schipper/Getty Barney & Friends was the first in a long series of guest roles for Pace before he hit it big on Homeland and The Walking Dead. 07 of 09 Brighton Sharbino Stefanie Keenan/Getty Like Pace, Sharbino moved on to The Walking Dead years after Barney & Friends, with stops on True Detective and NCIS along the way. She most recently starred on the TV series Players. 08 of 09 Kyla Pratt Jonathan Leibson/Getty Pratt actually appeared in Barney's Great Adventure, moving on to a voice role on The Proud Family and more recently, a part on Call Me Kat. 09 of 09 Debby Ryan Michael Loccisano/Getty Like Pratt, the Disney darling was in a Barney movie, her first credit before jumping into TV with The Suite Life on Deck, Jessie, Sing It and Insatiable.