This week, Miley Cyrus’s mom, Tish, and sister Brandi appeared on the Call Her Daddy podcast for a tell-all conversation.
And among all the juicy topics that were discussed, Tish didn’t hold back when it came to recounting her divorce from Miley’s dad, Billy Ray Cyrus.
If you didn’t know, Tish and Billy Ray were married for almost 30 years before she filed for divorce in 2022. They welcomed three kids while they were together: Miley, Noah, and Braison. They also shared Tish’s kids from a previous relationship, Trace and Brandi, both of whom Billy Ray legally adopted in 1993.
And while it’s unclear exactly what — if anything — has gone down between Tish and Billy Ray since they divorced, she explained on the Call Her Daddy podcast this week that she experienced a “complete psychological breakdown” while getting used to being “alone” amid their split.
“I was alone during that time. I had to go through it alone, and I literally can't believe I did that,” Tish said, noting that she also had to process her mom's death around the same time. “I could not eat, I could not sleep, I could not stop crying. I don't have my mom, and then I don't have my husband that has been my husband for 30 years. Like, I'm scared.”
Elsewhere on the podcast, Tish addressed Billy Ray’s memorable past claim that their family was negatively impacted by his and Miley’s roles on Disney Channel original series Hannah Montana.
In 2011, Billy Ray said the show — which he and Miley starred in between 2006 and 2011 — completely “destroyed” his family.
“I'll tell you right now, the damn show destroyed my family,” he told GQ, adding, “It’s all sad.”
When asked in the same interview if he wished Hannah Montana had “never happened,” Billy Ray replied, “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.”
However, Tish has now shut this claim down on Call Her Daddy. “Absolutely not,” she said when asked about his past comment before adding, “I just think he was having a moment.”
Brandi then added, “The family's not destroyed, first of all. We're doing great,” while Tish went on to note that she’d actually encouraged Billy Ray to audition for the role of Miley’s father on Hannah Montana.
“I’m trying to be politically correct. He had done 'Achy Breaky' and nothing else was working,” Tish said, referring to his successful 1992 hit song. “I brought Miley out to audition for Hannah and she had gotten it, and then one of the casting directors said a joke, like, ‘Too bad we can't afford her real dad!’ And I said, ‘Oh, maybe you can.’”
She recalled telling Billy Ray — who at the time hadn’t had any acting work in two years — that the casting directors were “really interested” in getting him on the show. “Yes, it would be a pay cut but our family could be together,” she added, referring to the fact that the family would’ve had to move from Toronto, where they were living at the time, to Tennessee and LA, where Hannah Montana was filmed.