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‘We were robbed!’: Wicked fans explode over Jonathan Bailey’s shirtless deleted scene

WORDS BY JORDAN ROBLEDO

28th December 2025

Thank OZ! Jonathan Bailey’s shirtless Wicked scene has finally been released.

Back in December 2024, fans were sent down a thirst-fueled spiral after Bowen Yang dished about a cut scene featuring a topless Prince Fiyero and Boq on the Just Trish Podcast.

“They shot a whole montage between ‘Popular’ and the… so after ‘Popular’ it goes into Elphaba doing her ‘toss toss’ and then Fiyero’s like, ‘You’ve been Galinda-fied’, and they go to class and then [Dr] Dillamond gets dragged off and then ends with the poppies and everyone falls asleep,” the SNL star explained at the time.

“Between those scenes, they shot a whole montage to try and show the audience that they are all friends now – Fiyero, Glinda, Elphaba, Nessa and Boq. [The scene shows] the five of them running around in the fields, hanging out.

“But there’s a scene where it’s Boq and Fiyero ripping their shirts off, and so you’re supposed to see Jonathan Bailey in his full shirtless glory, flexing and then Boq in the movie being insecure and wanting to look hot too, take his shirt off, but then it’s like, ‘Oh wait, Ethan’s got a great body.'”

Yang’s story was later confirmed when the original Wicked script was released as part of Deadline’s Read the Screenplay series.

Over the last year, fans (including us here at Gay Times) have wondered if the footage would ever see the light of day, especially with the recent release of the highly anticipated sequel Wicked: For Good.

Fortunately, our prayers were answered on 27 December when Universal Pictures teamed up with Entertainment Tonight to share the scene.

As Yang mentioned, the clip – which doesn’t have any dialogue and includes an instrumental of ‘Dancing Through Life’ – opens with Elphaba, Glinda, Nessa, Fiyero, and Boq rushing out of Shiz to hang out in a nearby forest.

After finding a spot, the group gets to work setting up their picnic area. While cutting wood, Fiyero and Boq strip off their shirts, revealing their insane and ripped bodies.

Check out the full scene below.

As you can imagine, the deleted scene was a hit with fans, who flocked to social media to share their excitement over new shirtless Jonathan Bailey content.

“Why is the shirtless Fiyero scene 10 hours long?” one viewer wrote on X/Twitter wrote.

Another fan tweeted: “I’m so outraged that they stole semi-nude Jonathan Bailey from me in this movie, ffs, I got you, John Chu.”

A third Wicked enthusiast echoed similar sentiments, writing, “Jon Chu, when I get you!!!” What was the reason???” alongside a screenshot of a shirtless Bailey.  

Prince Fiyero and Boq’s shirtless adventure is one of six deleted scenes included in the 4K UHD, Blu-ray and DVD copies of Wicked: For Good, which will drop on 20 January.

The physical release will also include an exclusive sing-along and a 50-minute featurette on the film’s production.

Check out more fan reactions below.

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