This Disney Channel outtake proves Hilary Duff was just as awkward as we all were in middle school

We love many things about Hilary Duff, but one of the biggest reasons we adore her is because her Lizzie McGuire character literally helped us get through middle school. The Disney Channel show was all about celebrating your inner awkwardness, which eased the stress of those admittedly awkward tween years.

5 Quad posted a video on their Facebook page yesterday, that has since gone viral. The video exposes never before seen, super awkward Hilary Duff outtakes from the classic early 2000s “you’re watching Disney Channel” promo. Young Duff proves that even though she was famous, she was just as uncomfortable as we all were during our junior high years. Lizzie McGuire, you are all of us!

We may be cringing, but we still love you Hilary!

And that’s just a snippet from the full 4 minute video below:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BQuENBxH4DU?feature=oembed

Complete with uncomfortable laughs and rigid body movements, this video makes us feel like we’re at our 8th grade homecoming trying to avoid dancing with Peter from science class all over again.

Until this video was released, we never thought how awkward these promos must have been to shoot. Now we are wise enough to realize that the Disney Channel stars weren’t actually drawing Mickey ears in magic fairy dust. And there couldn’t have been music playing in the background while filming.

So, honestly, we shouldn’t have expected anything less than mega-awkwardness.

If this series of faux pas never happened then we wouldn’t have been blessed with this childhood-shaping piece of media that got us AMPED UP to see what iconic outfits Lizzie and Miranda would wear in the latest Lizzie McGuire episode.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eMQ3oY2DZuw?feature=oembed

You’re lying if you say you didn’t want a pair of embroidered hip-huggers.

Thank you, Lizzie McGuire-era Hilary Duff for being just like the rest of us. The only thing cringier than watching Duff’s outtakes is imagining our middle school selves in the same position. Yikes!