On March 24, in conjunction with the 15th anniversary of the premiere of the Disney channel show that propelled her to fame, Miley Cyrus shared a heartfelt open letter to her ‘alter ego’ Hannah Montana. Cyrus played two versions of herself in the show: Miley Stewart, a normal 14-year-old and Hannah Montana, a young pop superstar who uses a blond wig as her disguise.
In her letter, Cyrus wrote to Hannah, “Although you are considered to be an ‘alter ego’ in reality there was a time in my life when you held more of my identity in your glovette than I did in my bare hands.”
The singer-actress then recounted the roaring success that revolved around Hannah Montana, and how working on the show overlapped with so many major milestones in her life, both good and bad: The death of her grandfather, falling in love for the first time, getting her period onset (“of course on the same day a ‘cute guy’ was cast and asked to have lunch with me,” Cyrus quipped).
As reported on Rolling Stone, the Disney alum also namechecked her co-stars Emily Osment, Mitchel Musso, and Jason Earles, who she said became her family as she was “seeing them more than my own” (save her father, Billy Ray Cyrus, who also starred on the show). She then closed by recalling production on the show’s final episode, which aired in 2011, and took its name, “Wherever I Go,” from a Hannah Montana song.
“Hannah, I hope you hear me and believe those words are true,” Cyrus said. “You have all my love and utmost gratitude. Breathing life into you for those six years was an honor. I am indebted not only to you, Hannah, but to any and everyone who believed in me from the beginning. You all have my loyalty and deepest appreciation until the end. With all sincerity, I say, thank you!”
In one more endearing twist, an official, verified Hannah Montana Twitter account also appeared for the first time, and it retweeted Cyrus’ letter with the note, “Nice to hear from you @MileyCyrus. It’s only been a decade.”/TISG