Nearly 20 years after Hannah Montana made its small screen debut, Tish Cyrus claims she encouraged her ex-husband Billy Ray to star alongside their daughter Miley in the hit Disney Channel series.
During her appearance on Alex Cooper’s Call Her Daddy podcast, Tish recalled Billy Ray struggling in the early 2000s professionally. “He had done Achy Breaky [Heart] and nothing else was working,” she explained. “And then I brought Miley out to audition for Hannah and she had gotten it. One of the casting directors said a joke, like, ‘Ugh, too bad we can’t afford her real dad.’ And I said, ‘Oh, maybe you can.’”
However, the show’s production came with some struggles. Tish Cyrus noted that the family had been living in Toronto while her ex worked on another series. She noted that the back and forth became really hard for all of her other children, Brandi, Noah, Trace, and Braison. She decided to move to Los Angeles for Miley’s job. “I was already stressed about, ‘What are we gonna do?’” Tish asked. “I couldn’t, as a mom, have half my kids in Tennessee and be out here with Miley.”
That’s when she gave Billy Ray the chance to audition for the show. “I was like, ‘I have to bring all the kids,’ and so that’s when I said to Billy Ray, you should come audition for the dad. Because they love you and they’re really interested. Yes, it would be a pay cut but our family could be together.”
The show ran from 2006 to 2011 and kickstarted Miley’s career.
Tish Cyrus’ Ex-Husband Once Said ‘Hannah Montana’ Ruined Their Family
During a 2011 interview with GQ, Tish Cyrus’ ex-husband stated that Hannah Montana was responsible for his family’s issues.
“Oh, it’s huge—it destroyed my family,” Billy Ray declared. “I’ll tell you right now—the damn show destroyed my family. And I sit there and go, ‘Yeah, you know what? Some gave all.’ It is my motto, and guess what? I have to eat that one,” Cyrus stated. “I some-gave-all’d it all right. And I some-gave-all’d it while everybody else was going to the bank. It’s all sad.”
When asked if he wished that Hannah Montana never happened, Cyrus stated, “I hate to say it, but yes, I do. Yeah. I’d take it back in a second. For my family to be here and just be everybody okay, safe and sound and happy and normal, would have been fantastic. Heck, yeah. I’d erase it all in a second if I could.”
Tish Cyrus addressed Billy Ray’s 2011 comments by disagreeing with his statement. She said the show absolutely didn’t destroy their family. “I just think he was having a moment,” she added.
Tish and Billy Ray Cyrus officially called it quits after 30 years of marriage in 2022. Tish went on to marry Dominic Purcell while Billy Ray married Firerose.