Season 1
The idea for a live-action adaptation of Winx Club dates back to 2011. Winx Club creator Iginio Straffi first proposed a live version in May 2011, several months after Viacom became a co-owner of his studio Rainbow and started financing his projects. At the Ischia Global Fest in 2013, Straffi stated that he was still planning a production "with the Winx in flesh and blood, played by real actors. Sooner or later it will be done." Straffi had only worked on animated productions at the time, so he transitioned his focus to live action, working as a producer for Nickelodeon's live-action show Club 57.
In February 2016, Iginio Straffi mentioned that a live-action movie concept was being considered in partnership with Hollywood Gang Productions, but the project never proceeded. In March 2018, the idea was revisited as a television series after Netflix ordered a young-adult version for its streaming service. Straffi was involved in the early planning stages, and he declined a suggestion from Netflix for the male characters to be given larger roles.
After a pilot episode was scripted, Nickelodeon's American crew members from the cartoon, including Bloom's voice actress, Molly Quinn, travelled to meet the Fate production team and review the script. Francesco Artibani, one of the Italian writers of the animated version, was brought in to read the storyline. Rainbow's Joanne Lee oversaw the first season as an executive producer.
The writers behind Fate are entirely new to the Winx franchise, and they were recruited from teen dramas like The Vampire Diaries. Brian Young, who worked on seven seasons of The Vampire Diaries, is the creator and showrunner of Fate: The Winx Saga. According to an interview with The Guardian, Young chose to "ditch the look" of the cartoon Winx fairies, who have big eyes and sparkling outfits. He said, "Look, again, I'm a massive manga anime fan... but nobody looks like that." Some episodes of the first season were directed by Lisa James Larsson and Hannah Quinn.
Casting calls were held in August 2019. Abigail Cowen was announced to be headlining the series as Bloom in September 2019. "Bloom is a fire fairy who grew up in the first world, so she did not grow up in the other world. And she finds out, kind of by accident, that she has these powers," said Cowen.
Hannah van der Westhuysen, who plays Stella, revealed "Stella is a very complex girl. She appears a certain way, but she's actually a lot softer and she has a lot of barriers that need to be broken down." Precious Mustapha, who plays Aisha, said, "Aisha is a water fairy. From the offset, she seems quite confident with her powers. But, 'cause she's a perfectionist, she doesn't think that's good enough. She wants to always be developing."
Eliot Salt, who plays Terra, added, "Terra's power is all plant based. It's growing things and sending them off after people. She is the most welcoming. She loves it. She loves to meet new people. She gives too much."
Elisha Applebaum, who portrays Musa, said, "Musa is an empath. Her power is to feel everyone's emotions, whether it's nature or anything around. She's just open and honest, but also she's not honest with herself and she's trying to learn how to do that."
Danny Griffin, Sadie Soverall, Freddie Thorp, Eve Best, and Robert James-Collier were cast to play Sky, Beatrix, Riven, Farah Dowling, and Saul Silva in the series.
Filming of the first season began in County Wicklow, Ireland, in September 2019 and concluded in December 2019. The primary filming locations included Killruddery House and Ardmore Studios in Bray. Some indoor scenes of the series were shot at Ashford Studios. Griffin, who plays Sky, said, "We had an incredible stunt crew who would take us through the steps very slowly and were really patient in the beginning. But it's always a big struggle, because later it had to be fast and accurate." Cowen, who plays Bloom, said, "Playing Bloom was interesting. I think I put a lot of pressure on myself because I knew that so many people are fans of the original Winx. It was a nerve-wracking but exciting and exhilarating experience."
Westhuysen, who portrays Stella, revealed, "I made diaries, scrapbooks, and things like that. They are really nice to look back on and will be very helpful for filming season two." Salt, who plays Terra, said, "I think what jumped out for me was just the range that everybody gets to do in the show, which is, I guess, quite unusual for most parts, but I think especially when you're generally playing young women, and the fact that we get to do comedy and tragedy and action and there's a lot to get your teeth into, so that's what really stood out to me." Mustapha, who plays Aisha, added, "I think the power of female friendship was something that really struck a chord with me, and I was like, 'This will be really fun to do' because we don't often get shows that are centred around women, let alone five women, so that was something I was definitely really excited about being a part of."
Fate: The Winx Saga's music score was composed by Anne Nikitin, and the official playlist is available on Spotify, including 33 songs from various artists. Netflix also released a playlist for each fairy – Bloom's Fire Playlist, Stella's Light Playlist, Musa's Mind Playlist, Aisha's Water Playlist, Terra's Earth Playlist, and Beatrix's Air Playlist – on Spotify.
