Miley Cyrus was always just an ordinary girl.
Even when the Hannah Montana alum would put on one of her iconic blonde wigs to step into her character’s popstar double life, her wardrobe and accessories were perfectly tailored to her typical teenage struggles—and she still has a few wigs in her closet to prove it.
“I have a couple looks,” Miley told Jimmy Kimmel during a May 22 episode of Jimmy Kimmel Live, “shorter, longer, blonder, longer bang—that was for the teenage acne I would have, since I was 14 in full drag every day.”
Adding that she even kept a pair of the Hannah Montana cowboy boots, the 32-year-old revealed that, similarly to her Disney Channel character, little pieces of Hannah are “accessible via iPad” in her home, “where they are organized and I can find anything at any time.”
After all, Hannah Montana has remained a huge part of Miley’s life because, as she put it, “I’m surrounded by gays.”
Highlighting that many kids growing up favored either Disney Channel or Nickelodeon, she denoted the fundamental differences between fans of the networks.
“There’s Nickelodeon gays and Disney gays,” she quipped, adding that Nickelodeon gays generally “like boogers and bro jokes, and Disney—I would like to think—is a little bit more fabulous. Especially if it’s about a teenage pop star wearing a wig being the most famous drag queen for kids ever.”
And in recent years, when she meets someone that wasn’t a fan of her character in the mid-aughts, the Grammy winner can’t help but pass a bit of judgement.
“You’re gay and you don’t live for Hannah Montana?,” she joked. “What’s wrong with you?”
And when she took it upon herself to introduce her friends and colleagues to the nostalgic show, she emphasized that “obviously they were gagged—they’re obsessed with her.”
But before Miley assumed the role of Hannah at just 13 years old alongside her dad Billy Ray Cyrus, which led to her receiving a Disney Legend award last August, she ended up falling into a business of her own.
“Kids do dumb stuff,” Miley said, thinking back to her childhood with her siblings Noah Cyrus, 24, Braison Cyrus, 30, Trace Cyrus, 35, and Brandi Cyrus, 37. “They may go vandalize something or break in somewhere. But I did it to myself. We vandalized our own home and my dad, who did a lot of vandalizing as a young teenager, was like, ‘I busted out my fair share of windows but never my own. Y’all are idiots.’”
“They made us get a job where the karma would be to clean windows,” she continued. “So I had Sparkles Cleaning Service, and I even had my own technique. I can’t just do something the regular way.”
To see where the other Hannah Montana cast members are now, keep reading.
Miley Cyrus (Hannah Montana / Miley Stewart)
The star of the show is now one of the most popular celebs in the world. The singer and actress went through a bit of a wild phase, chopping off her hair, famously twerking on Robin Thicke at the 2013 MTV VMAs and appearing nude or scantily clad in her “Wrecking Ball” video. Hey, she’s just being Miley! After splitting from Liam Hemsworth, her co-star in The Last Song, she romanced Kaitlynn Carter and Cody Simpson. She is now dating musician Maxx Morando.
Emily Osment (Lilly Truscott)
After Hannah Montana ended its four-season run in 2011, the actress went on to voice characters on animated programs like Family Guy and Rainbow Brite and appear on shows such as Mom, Young & Hungry, Cleaners and The Kominsky Method. Her most recent series, Fox’s Almost Family, was canceled after one ill-fated season. She also has her own music career.
Jason Earles (Jackson Stewart)
After Hannah Montana ended, the actor went on to star on shows such as Disney XD’s Kickin’ It, WTH: Welcome to Howler and Hotel Du Loone. In 2017, he married Katie Drysen.
Mitchel Musso (Oliver Oken)
The actor appeared on the show Pair of Kings and hosted PrankStars after Hannah Montana ended. In 2011, at age 20, he was arrested for a DUI, after which his character was written off the former show and the latter was canceled. In recent years, he has continued to act and has portrayed characters on the animated programs Phineas and Ferb and Milo Murphy’s Law.
Moises Arias (Rico)
In recent years, the actor has appeared on shows such as The Middle and Jean-Claude Van Johnson and movies such as Ben-Hur and Pitch Perfect 3. In 2020, he starred in the Pete Davidson-Judd Apatow film The King of Staten Island.
Anna Maria Perez de Tagle (Ashley Dewitt)
In late 2011, she starred in the Broadway revival of Godspell. She is also a singer—in 2012, the star opened for the Jonas Brothers Asia 2012 tour. In recent years, she has appeared on episodes of shows such as Baby Daddy and Charmed. In November 2018, she got engaged to boyfriend Scott Kline. The two tied the knot the following June with actress Uzo Aduba serving as the maid of honor.
Shanica Knowles (Amber Addison)
After Hannah Montana ended, the actress went on to appear on shows such as Melissa & Joey, The Young and the Restless and various TV movies, such as Life-Size 2.
Cody Linley (Jake Ryan)
The star finished fourth on the the seventh season of Dancing With The Stars and released his debut album in 2012. He also continued his acting career—he appeared on two episodes of Melissa & Joey and in the TV movies Sharknado 4: The 4th Awakens and Sharknado 5: Global Swarming.
Billy Ray Cyrus (Robby Ray Stewart)
Miley’s onscreen and real-life dad continues to concentrate on his music career. In 2019, he earned his first No. 1 single after joining Lil Nas X on the official remix of the record-breaking smash hit “Old Town Road.” In 2016 and 2017, he starred on the show Still the King.
Noah Cyrus
Miley’s little sister appeared on six episodes of Hannah Montana. She began a music career in 2016 and released her debut single, “Make Me (Cry).” In 2018, she dated Lil Xan and they released the collaboration “Live or Die.” The two broke up after a couple of months.
She got engaged to designer Pinkus in 2023.
