Miley Cyrus Embraces Hannah Montana After Turbulent Decade

When auditioned for Hannah at just 12-years-old no one had any idea the phenomenon it would turn into. 

Four series, including spin off series Hannah Montana Forever, 98 episodes and Hannah Montana The Movie, The Best Of Both Worlds became a soundtrack to a generation of childhoods. 

Marking the 20th anniversary of the show with a Disney+ special on Tuesday, it is fair to say a lot has happened in Miley's life. 

Speaking on the documentary the singer, now 33, paid tribute to her dedicated fan base as she explained the idea for the special was to honour how much they supported her in her transition from Hannah to Miley. 

She confessed: 'It wasn't always easy. It was a bit of a turbulent transition at times and this just feels like not only a moment of reflection of the show itself but more just the longevity and the loyalty of everyone that I have grown up with.' 

Growing up in the public eye is never easy, but emerging out of the squeaky clean Disney image, Miley's evolution played out on the world stage. 

Swinging naked on a wrecking ball in her 2013 single of the same name it was clear the star had done a whole U-turn on her Hannah days. 

Yet now, newly engaged, Miley has returned to her more wholesome roots, after years of experimenting with her image, drug taking, a public divorce and messy family feuds. 

While this time last year her family appeared to be in tatters following her parents Tish and Billy Ray's divorce, Miley confirmed in the special that she is now on great terms with her dad. 

She told host Alex Cooper: 'I know how much our relationship means to everyone that watched the show. I think when me and my dad are good people feel better. 

'It just feels good when the Cyrus' are getting along.' 

Turning up to her audition, a young girl with no acting experience who just wanted to make people laugh, the producers decided to take a risk when they cast Miley after 11 months of searching.  

Former President of Disney Channels Worldwide Gary Marsh said: 'I had this nutty ambition that we could turn a fictional popstar into a real life superstar.'

Recalling the email he sent to the team after deciding to cast Miley he wrote: 'I am ready to pull the trigger on Miley. Is she a risk? Unquestionably. Is she a potential star? Absolutely.'

He added: 'We decided to forsake the safe route for the riskier one and the greater award.'

After her dad bagged the role of her dad on the show, Robby Ray, her family quickly packed up their lives in Nashville Tennessee to move to the glam world of California. 

'I got here in a mini-skirt and flip flops and never looked back. I never got to LA and felt homesick,' joked Miley. 

The final episode of Hannah Montana aired January 2011 and following the release of several Hannah Montana albums, the star began forging her way as an artist under her own name. 

Her 2010 album Can't Be Tamed marked her first major departure from her squeaky clean Hannah image as she donned her leather and danced in a cage while singing 'I can't be tamed/ I can't be blamed/ I can't be changed/ I can't be tamed'.

But it was her 2013 record Bangerz which really sent the world into a frenzy after she hired Larry Rudolph to be her manager, best known for previously representing Britney Spears. 

Shaving off her brunette locks in favour of a blonde pixie cut, her first single We Can't Stop featured lyrics referring to 'Molly' and 'lines in the bathroom', drunken partying and of course plenty of twerking. 

In what became her signature move, she later made headlines after her controversial performance with Robin Thicke at the MTV VMA Awards in 2013. 

Dressed in a barely there flesh coloured underwear ensemble, Miley shocked both the audience and those watching at home as she gyrated, bumped and grinded on Robin. 

Speaking to the New York Times two years later in 2015 she said she was amazed that people found the performance so shocking.

She added: 'I can’t believe that was a big deal. It wasn’t shocking at all.'

The singer said she was left feeling judged after what happened, by not only strangers but also her friends.

But the singer didn't stop there. With her follow up ballad single Wrecking Ball seeing the singer strip naked and swing on a bulldozer ball as it swung through the air. 

The video raked up a staggering 12.3million views in just 24 hours on Vevo to become its most viewed record. 

At the time, then-20-year-old Miley defended the backlash as she urged people to focus on the raw emotion of the song, which was referencing her break-up with Liam Hemsworth.

She said: I think the video is much more, if people get past the point that I'm naked and you actually look at me. You can tell that I actually look more broken than even the song sounds.'

But in 2017, Miley admitted that she regretted making the video, saying: 'I'm never living that down. I will always be the naked girl on a wrecking ball.

'I just licked the sledgehammer. I should have thought how long that was going to follow me around. That's my worst nightmare - that being played at my funeral.'

Miley has also openly discussed her drug use in her younger years, once joking that her Disney alter-ego Hannah Montana disappeared from the public eye because she had 'a lot of drugs'.

The star has long been a proponent of smoking and legalizing marijuana, famously lighting a joint up on stage during her 2013 MTV EMAs performance in Amsterdam. 

Appearing on Jimmy Fallon in 2017, Miley confirmed she had quit smoking after a recurring nightmare. 

She explained: 'I kept having this nightmare, I had a dream I would die during my monologue during SNL for some reason, that I would just get so stoned and I would just die.'

'How much weed were you smoking?' asked Jimmy. 

'A lot of weed. It's like no one has ever died from weed but no one has ever smoked as much as I did,' replied Miley.  

In 2021, she told Rolling Stone: '[I] haven't done drugs in years. Honestly, I never try to, again, be a fortune-teller. I try to not be naïve.

'Things f***ing happen. But from sitting here with you right now, I would say it would have to be a cold day in hell for me to relapse on drugs.'

It was revealed in December that Miley is now engaged to her partner of four years Maxx Morando (pictured at the Hannah Anniversary premiere on Monday)