**Link to the n*de photos**

The Disney Channel teencom Wizards of Waverly Place (2007-12) about a family of wizards, gave us a bear dad (David DeLuise), hunky sons Justin (David Henrie) and Max (Jake T. Austin, left), some hunky friends (Dan Benson, Gregg Sulkin), a bisexual daughter, and a huge number of gay subtexts (in spite of the heteronormative erasure in the scripts) .

The sequel, Beyond Waverly Place (2024-26), features eldest son Justin as a middle school vice principal, charged by the Wizard Council with protecting the Chosen One, while raising his wizard sons, Roman (Alkaio Thiele, right) and Milo (Max Matenko).

Alkaio Thiele, 15 as of this writing, plays son Roman with the standard teencom hetero-horniness, but checking his Instagram and Facebook pages, I see hints of gay potential.

1. An interest in muscular physiques. He posts a lot of photos of muscular co-stars, plus at least three where he is wearing a muscle suit.

2. A photo that I can't post or describe here. You have to just see it, on RG Beefcake and Boyfriends

3. A drag piece where he is playing himself and his mother at the same time.

Wait -- that's his actual mother. I checked her Instagram and Facebook pages: masculine presentation, she/her pronouns, married to a man, two children. Previously a nurse, now Alkaio's manager. Kudos on your gender fluidity, Mom!

What are they up to? It looks like she is removing a hair net from his head.

Alkaio grew up (rather, is growing up) in Castro Valley, near Hayward in the East Bay, 27 miles from the gay neighborhood of Castro Street in San Francisco.

He is of Greek ancestry. Alkaios, "Strength," was the son of Perseus and Andromeda, an ancestor of Hercules.

A random Greek guy on RG Beefcake and Boyfriends

He began his career in musical theater, playing:

The Artful Dodger in Oliver!

Peter in Peter Pan and Wendy

Sam, a preteen with a girlfriend, in Love Actually Live.

More after the break

Applegate, the Devil in disguise, in Damn Yankees.

Harold Hill in The Music Man

Two gay-subtext roles. Not bad.

His on-screen acting begins with a 2022 episode of Call Me Kat: the college professor turned cat cafe owner (Mayim Bialik of Big Bang Theory) wants to have a baby, and her bartender Max (Cheyenne Jackson, left) volunteers his sperm. In a fantasy sequence, they are co-parenting the sitcom-perfect Max Junior (Alkaio), who won the football game, sang a medley of show tunes, got all As, and stayed off drugs. "You must be the most popular kid in school!" the clueless Kat exclaims.

Next she imagines, to her horror, that he is going to drop out of school, play his music, and get by on being "good looking."

Max Junior is semi-queer coded: Kat imagines that he could be gay or straight. Plus Cheyenne Jackson (left) is gay in real life, and the B Plot involves gay cafe baker Phil (Leslie Jordan) falling for a drag queen.

Also in 2022, Alkaio appeared in A Christmas Mystery: two kids and their older siblings solve the theft of the town's strand of jingle bells, a magical emblem presented by Santa Claus. While they are touring a museum, Jerry (Alkaio) is bullying the focus character Kenny, when he accidentally bumps into a pedestal. The bronze bust topples over and almost kills him, but the guard (Drew Powell, left) rushes to the rescue, holds his hand, and asks "Are you all right?" in a nice bonding moment.

Drew shows his d*ck on RG Beefcake and Boyfriends.

In 2023, I'll Be There: AJ (Ryan Cooper) is dying of cancer, and his family is "there" for him. Alkaio plays the young AJ.

And Ultra Red: A spaceship crew starts exhibiting strange behavior. Alkaio plays Victor, presumably a crew member's kid.

No heterosexual interest so far -- a good sign.

The Wingfeather Saga (2022-25) is a Christian heroic fantasy series: Janner (Alkaio) teams up with his brother and sister (and God, of course) to rescue his girlfriend from their evil lizard overlords. Wait -- lizard people controlling society. That sounds familiar.

Alkaio also voiced the preteen Spiderman in Spidey and His Amazing Friends (2024-25). His friends include Mike Morales, Gwen the Love Interest (but here she's just a buddy), a cute teenage Hulk, Iron Man, Ant Man, and Jeff the Land Shark. JP Karliak, founder of Queer Vox (for queer voice artists), plays the main antagonist, the Green Goblin.

So, a gay-adjacent role.

Alkaio's mom-curated Instagram and Facebook pages don't show him with anyone but family members and co-stars, and the three photos could be the result of whimsy or innocence rather than gay hints. At age 15, he might not know, or might not be out yet. But with his background at home and on stage, he's certainly an ally.

And the research gave me an excuse to look at n*de Greek guys.