Love her or hate her, it’s hard to deny the polarizing presence that is Miley Cyrus.
We’ve been hooked ever since she put on that blond wig and belted out Hannah Montana songs.
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But there’s so much more to this star than just her Disney past, her highly-publicized love life, and what we saw during her “Banger” days.
To learn more, here are 10+ fun facts.
1. Her real name isn’t Miley:
It’s actually Destiny Hope Cyrus, and the story behind her nickname is actually so cute!
Since she was always so smiley as a kid, her family called her “Smiley Miley.” Eventually, Miley stuck.
2. Dolly Parton is her godmother:
The country superstar has been close to Miley’s dad, Billy Ray, for decades. She was even on an episode of Hannah Montana !
“She taught me how to treat people well,” Miley told Paper magazine about Parton in 2015.
3. She originally auditioned for the role of Hannah Montana’s best friend:
In the end, the role of Lilly ended up going to Emily Osment.
Since playing Hannah Montana shot Miley to superstardom, it’s crazy to think about where her career would be right now if she played Lilly.
4. She has a famous half-brother:
Her mother, Tish, had Trace during her previous marriage to Baxter Neal Helson.
In case you didn’t know, Trace was the lead singer of Metro Station, most known for their single, ‘Shake It.’
5. She grew up on a farm:
Miley is a country girl at heart.
She told Paper magazine that she grew up on a 500-acre farm where she would get up super early in the morning and ride a dirt bike around in the nude.
6. She’s the voice of Mainframe in *Guardians of the Galaxy 2*:
It was director, James Gunn, who chose to cast Miley after watching her in The Voice :
“I thought: “She’s so likable and her voice is awesome. She’s got the best voice!”
“And then I asked Kevin, ‘What do you think about casting Miley Cyrus as the voice of Mainframe?'”
“He was like ‘Well, if you think we can get her…’ and I got her to do it!”
How cool is that?
7. She has always been open about her sexuality:
The “Wrecking Ball” singer identifies as fluid, both in her own gender and sexuality.
“I am literally open to every single thing that is consenting and doesn’t involve an animal and everyone is of age,” she said in 2015.
“Everything that’s legal, I’m down with. Yo, I’m down with any adult – anyone over the age of 18 who is down to love me,” she said.
In the past, she’s had serious romantic relationships with both men and women.
“I don’t relate to being boy or girl, and I don’t have to have my partner relate to boy or girl.”
8. She came out to her mother at age 14:
“I remember telling her I admire women in a different way. And she asked me what that meant,” she told Paper magazine.
“And I said, ‘I love them. I love them like I love boys,'” she said.
She admitted that it was hard for her mother to understand at first.
“She didn’t want me to be judged and she didn’t want me to go to hell. But she believes in me more than she believes in any god. I just asked for her to accept me. And she has.”
9. She recently celebrated six months of sobriety from alcohol and marijuana:
Way to go, Miley!
She told Variety that she began her journey to sobriety after her major vocal cord surgery in November.
“At the beginning, it was just about this vocal surgery. … But I had been thinking a lot about my mother.”
She continued:
“It’s really hard because especially being young, there’s that stigma of ‘you’re no fun.’ It’s like, ‘honey, you can call me a lot of things, but I know that I’m fun.’ The thing that I love about it is waking up 100%, 100% of the time. I don’t want to wake up feeling groggy. I want to wake up feeling ready.”
10. She has her own nonprofit called Happy Hippie:
The foundation focuses on youth homelessness and the LGBTQ community. It’s something that Miley is immensely proud of.
“I grew up working at KTLA, on Sunset, where so many homeless people are,” she told Elle .
“When I go back to my old stomping ground and see kids wearing Happy Hippie T-shirts, that makes me feel so much more proud than if I had seven Grammys sitting on the wall here.”
She also shared the impact her foundation has made on those in need.
“We’ve served nearly 1,300 homeless kids in Hollywood every year since 2014.”She continued:
“And last year, we helped 270 kids find housing and provided 32,000 meals. That won’t burn down. That helped me become much more disconnected from things.”
11. She was almost in the movie, *Hotel Transylvania*:
“I got kicked off Hotel Transylvania for buying Liam a penis cake for his birthday and licking it,” she revealed in her 2019 Twitter rant.
She had been cast in the animated film as Mavis.
This was the teenage vampire daughter of Adam Sandler’s Dracula.
In the end, the role went to another former Disney star: Selena Gomez.
Losing that role cost Miley big since the franchise’s three movies have brought in $1 billion so far.
