You’ve heard of plenty of child stars hailing from the Disney Channel. Despite its morally dubious beginnings, Disney has introduced us to figures like Selena Gomez, Demi Lovato, Raven Symoné, and perhaps the most iconic star of all: Miss Miley Cyrus. Hannah Montana served as the launching pad for Cyrus and many others, including Firerose — believe it or not.
If you haven’t heard of Firerose, we can’t blame you; she’s pretty irrelevant to the plot. However, Firerose was indeed on the set of Hannah Montana, but not in the way you might think. While we might know her today as Billy Ray Cyrus’s new partner and Miley’s new stepmom (despite Firerose being only three years older than her stepdaughter, yikes), once upon a time, she was nothing more than a name on-site.
Who was Firerose in Hannah Montana?
While Firerose and Billy Ray Cyrus did meet on the Hannah Montana set, it was nothing more than a coincidence. In fact, the Australian musician — who was 22 at the time — wasn’t part of the Disney Channel show at all. According to Firerose, she had just left an audition for Hannah Montana at the Sunset Gala in Hollywood, and Billy Ray, who was walking his dog Tex between shoots, happened to encounter Firerose by chance.
After striking up a conversation, Billy Ray introduced Firerose to the Hannah Montana producers, hoping to help a budding actress and give her some networking opportunities. At the time, neither of them could have known that 14 years later, they would be exchanging vows. Back then, the two were merely strangers, with Billy Ray trying to promote a new star in Hollywood.
Although the actress did not get to join Hannah Montana, she could have. Firerose was 22 years old at the time, while Miley was 19 — the age difference was quite small. Interestingly, a clip from Hannah Montana, where Miley Stewart playfully mocks Robby Ray’s new — and very young — girlfriend, seems quite fitting for this real-life context.
The universe operates in mysterious ways, and remember, the only thing separating you and Firerose is that she captured Billy Ray’s achy-breaky heart first.