It’s been 15 years since “Hannah Montana” premiered on Disney Channel, and Miley Cyrus feels nostalgic.
In honour of the Disney show’s anniversary Wednesday, the 28-year-old singer shared a heartfelt tribute to the character that catapulted her into the spotlight.
“Hi Hannah, it’s been a while. Fifteen years to be exact,” Cyrus started the handwritten letter written in purple ink.
“Since the first time I slid those blonde bangs over my forehead in the best attempt to conceal my identity. Then slipped into a puke pink terry cloth robe with a bedazzled HM over the <3. I didn’t know then … that is where you would live forever. Not just in mine but millions of people around the world.”
Cyrus, who has been open about her mixed feelings towards child stardom, acknowledged that even though the pop sensation was her “alter ego,” “there was a time in my life when you held more of an identity in your glove than I did in my bare hands.” Earlier this month, she talked about the “identity crisis” she suffered while playing a character “as often as I was myself.”
“You + I have been through it all together, my friend. We’ve shared many firsts. A lot of lasts. Ups. Downs. Tears + laughs,” Cyrus continued in her letter.
In addition to thanking Hannah Montana for providing “a superlative amount of fame in return for the anonymity, I could gift to you,” the “Party in the USA” singer reminisced about the unforgettable memories while growing up on set.
Cyrus then took the time to thank her co-stars, Emily Osment and Mitchel Musso, who played Hannah’s best friends, and Jason Earles, who played her older brother Jackson— all of whom she called “my family” — along with her grandmother “Mammie,” who “ran my fan club Miley World.”
She wrote it was “bittersweet” to leave behind her iconic character, “a huge piece of me.” However, she reassured me that Hannah will still “be with me wherever I go,” referencing the long-standing show’s final episode.
