Miley Cyrus and Liam Hemsworth’s love story was one for the ages. There was drama, a lifetime of rumors, sweet reunions, and, of course, *that* Neil Lane diamond engagement ring. However, the two broke up back in 2019 and have since moved on to other, equally gorgeous and talented people (Miley is currently dating musician Maxx Morando, while Liam still seems to be with his girlfriend, model Gabriella Brooks). But since we know you're curious, here’s a look back at the former couple's highlight reel.
June 2009: Miley and Liam meet on the set of The Last Song, aka your favorite Nicholas Sparks movie after The Notebook. Just look at how young (and in love) they are.
November 2009: Miley calls Liam her “best friend” in an interview with Seventeen.
March 2010: Miley and Liam make their red-carpet debut as a couple at an Oscars event, confirming that they are, in fact, dating.
They also walk the carpet together for The Last Song premiere.
June 2010: Miley reveals Liam was largely her muse for Can’t Be Tamed. “There are a lot of songs that are about Liam,” she tells MTV News. “All of them are about him in a way, but it’s also about past relationships that you gotta get over and move on and just about freeing yourself from anything that you feel holds you back.”
August 2010: Miley and Liam’s relationship endures its first breakup, reportedly due to her work schedule.
September 2010: Miley and Liam are spotted running errands and eating together, suggesting they are back together again.
November 2010: They break up again. A source tells E! it’s “just a time out,” whatever that means.
April 2011: They’re back on! But this time, they’re reportedly “taking it slow and just enjoying each other’s company.”
December 2011: Liam accompanies Miley to the CNN Heroes Gala in Los Angeles.
February 2012: Liam tells Details that Miley makes him “really happy.” They attend another round of Oscar parties, including the glamorous Vanity Fair bash.
March 2012: Miley accompanies Liam to the Los Angeles premiere of The Hunger Games. Engagement rumors brew shortly after Miley is spotted wearing a ring on ~that finger~.
Miley denies the engagement:
June 2012: Annnd then Miley and Liam announce their engagement. Miley tells People, “I’m so happy to be engaged and look forward to a life of happiness with Liam.”
Here’s the 3.5-carat diamond ring, made by everybody’s fave, Neil Lane.
November 2012: Miley appears on The Ellen DeGeneres Show, gets a lap dance, and says her wedding “has to be perfect” and “has to be like a soundtrack in a movie.”
January 2013: Miley and Liam vacation in Costa Rica. Liam is shirtless.
February 2013: Miley fires back at Perez Hilton after he accuses her of cheating on Liam with Ed Westwick. Miley and Liam attend separate Oscar parties. New breakup rumors begin to circulate.
March 2013: Miley is spotted without her engagement ring, leading many to believe the wedding is off.
Never mind. The ring is back again.
April 2013: Billy Ray Cyrus tells Nightline he doesn’t know if Miley and Liam will marry. “They’re young, they’re kids. The great news is, they’re great friends. And if you end up getting married, that’s your business too, you know?” People quotes a source saying the couple wants to postpone the wedding.
June 2013: Miley and Liam are photographed for the first time in five months while going to the movies.
August 2013: Miley attends the L.A. premiere of Paranoia with Liam. It would be their final red-carpet appearance together before breaking off their engagement. Can you feel the tension and awkwardness?
August 2013: Miley twerks.
September 2013: Miley unfollows Liam on Twitter. Three days later, her rep confirms their engagement has been called off. Liam makes out with Mexican actress and singer Eiza Gonzalez. In her first post-Liam performance, Miley breaks down while performing “Wrecking Ball,” a song believed to be about Liam. (Warning: You may feel chills.)
October 2013: Miley talks about Life After Liam in Cosmopolitan’s December 2013 issue: “This is the best time of my life. I’m not going to look back on it and be like, ‘I wish I hadn’t been dwelling over a breakup,’ you know? Because that’s not what God wants my life to be about right now.”
July 2014: Liam reportedly tells friends while vacationing in Italy that he and Miley will “always be best friends.”
October 2014: When asked about Miley in a Nylon interview, Liam says, “There’s not much to say.”
November 2014: Piley (Miley and Patrick Schwarzenegger) is born.
December 2014: Liam’s bro Chris takes a dig at Miley, maybe.
March 2015: Patrick is spotted canoodling with someone who is not Miley while on ~spring break~.
April 2015: Miley and Patrick break up.
July 2015: Miley and Stella Maxwell ride “dinosaurs” and everyone thinks they’re dating. Miley tells Elle UK one month later that she is pansexual and not in a relationship.
October 2015: Liam tells Men’s Fitness that being with Miley was “an important part of my life,” adding, “You fall in love with who you fall in love with; you can never choose.” Miley sports a TMNT onesie that looks very similar to the one Liam wore more than a year ago.
November 2015: Miley helps Liam adopt a new best friend. Say hello to Dora the Explorer. Really.
January 2016: Miley pops up Down Under and also on Instagram accounts belonging to friends of the Hemsworths.
Miley wears what appears to be her engagement ring, the same Neil Lane ring from Liam, on ~that finger~. Photographers catch Miley and a moving truck at Liam’s house. People sources say Miley “seems ecstatic” about the reunion.
Days later, a source confirms to People that Miley and Liam are engaged again and that the singer is “beyond happy” to be back together with her boo.
April 2016: Miley and Liam are seen in public together for the first time since getting engaged again, first in Hollywood getting lunch at vegan hotspot Gracias Madre, then in Byron Bay in Australia.
May 2016: Miley and Liam’s sister-in-law Elsa Pataky (Chris’s wife) get matching wave tattoos in Australia. Professional surfer Kelly Slater and his girlfriend, Kalani Miller, also get inked with the same design, according to this Instagram from tattoo artist Lauren Winzer.
That same weekend, Miley and Liam attend a wedding together (someone else’s, not theirs). She also performs an acoustic set for the newlyweds and at one point can be heard saying, “This song is about the person that I love, so now it works for you guys.”
May 2016: In an interview with GQ, Liam gets candid about his relationship with Miley, noting that their 2013 split was difficult on him. “But at the time, we were going in different directions and it’s just what needed to happen. We were both super young and it was a good decision at the time—we both needed that.” Of his current relationship status, he offers this: “People will figure it out, they already have….They’re not dumb.” Nope.
June 2016: Miley takes a mirror selfie while wearing a jersey with the name Hemsworth on the back.
July 2016: Miley pays a visit to tattoo artist Dr. Woo to add a teeny-tiny drawing of Vegemite to her arm. Vegemite is Liam’s favorite condiment.
One week later, Miley makes a casual appearance on Liam’s Instagram feed, along with this cute little muffin.
Liam also makes a casual appearance on Miley’s Insta while wearing a shirt from her Happy Hippie Foundation. Okay, it’s not that casual, he’s clearly snuggling with Dora the pup instead of Miley, and that doggo looks guilty.
Before the end of the month, Miley wears a different ring—a wedding band? a new promise ring? a mood ring?—on her ring finger, causing everyone to freak out three times over.
August 2016: Liam sings Justin Bieber’s “Love Yourself” while in a car with Miley, causing fans to completely lose it because it’s basically the scene from The Last Song. While Liam’s face isn’t shown in Miley’s Insta video, she credits him with “BGVs” (background vocals) in the caption along with a nod to Barbie Da Beagle.
September 2016: Liam posts a #TBT of him and Miley on the set of The Last Song. Look how young! And look, abs.
October 2016: Miley finally confirms that she and Liam are engaged during an interview with Ellen DeGeneres.
November 2016: Miley and Liam step out for a rare public outing in Los Angeles, hitting up Vijat Mohindra’s first solo photography exhibition at the Museum at Retail Space Gallery. The photos are too much.
Liam gives his lady a shout-out on her birthday and yes, he wrapped that present all by himself.
December 2016: Miley and Liam kick off the holidays with many, many sweet snuggly photos together.
January 2017: Miley shares some cute photos from her New Year’s with Liam and their families. She calls him “hot,” because it’s true.
Miley gives Liam a birthday shout-out on Instagram, calling him her “favorite being.” Heart. Full.
February 2017: Miley kicks off Valentine’s Day 2017 with a throwback to a 2015 photo of her at the AmfAR gala. But there’s a twist: She’s twinning with Liam, who is also “wearing” the dress.
IRL, the couple spends V Day in the great outdoors with their pups Tani and Dora.
May 2017: Miley announces in an interview with Billboard that she will release a new single called “Malibu,” which is a love song about Liam. She says she wrote it while riding an Uber to the set of The Voice and that she decided to make it about Liam because she wanted to take back the narrative of her relationship, which has been in the spotlight for years. “They’re going to talk about me if I come out of a restaurant with Liam. So why not put the power back in my relationship and say, ‘This is how I feel’?” She says they broke up in 2013 because she was going through a major life change. “And changing with someone else not changing like that is too hard. Suddenly you’re like, ‘I don’t recognize you anymore.’” She says they had to “refall for each other” when they got back together.
For the cover art for “Malibu,” Miley enlists Liam. The result is beautiful. And yes, that’s her engagement ring.
The song is as beautiful as their relationship, with Miley singing about how Liam saved her and how they are embarking on something new. It’s so sweet it hurts.
Miley performs “Malibu” for the first time on TV at the 2017 Billboard Music Awards and is in tears by the end of the song. (Note: This is a stripped-down country version of the song and it’s very pretty.)
July 2017: Liam calls Miley his “little angel” in a sweet black-and-white Instagram.
Miley responds by reposting the Insta but not before questioning Liam’s choice of photo. These two. 😍
September 2017: In an interview with the Sun on Sunday (via the Daily Mail), Miley says she has no wedding plans for now. “I don’t envision marriage. I’m 24. I hope I get to live a little bit more,” she tells the paper. “I have too much living to do [before I get married].” She continued, “Three years ago, if you’d asked me if I’d be here, this happy with this man, I’d have been stunned. I’m just riding this out. In some relationships, you lose yourself by being with someone else. Actually, it made me find myself more. I have no idea what the next three years will bring, but if it’s possible to get even happier, I’ll take it.”
In the same interview, Miley revealed that she and Liam maintained a private friendship during their time apart. “I didn’t know [we’d get back together]. I’m so crazy, I have no idea. But I had something in my heart, it never felt like it was really over. We kept a great friendship really private. It’s good for people to have that space to grow individually. Otherwise when you’re with someone from 16 until 24, you grow into the same person.”
To celebrate Miley’s Younger Now album release on September 29, Liam shares this sweet Instagram post, writing, “Check out this little hottie’s new album! She’s got a bright future ahead ;) Get it while it’s hot!”
The album contains several songs that make reference to Liam, including “Malibu,” “Week Without You,” and “She’s Not Him,” which is believed to be about Miley’s brief romance with model Stella Maxwell during her time apart from Liam in 2015.
October 2017: In an interview with Howard Stern, Miley sheds more light on why she and Liam broke up in 2013. “I had to [end it]. I don’t like when relationships are two halves trying to make a whole....So, I don’t think that I have that codependency. I think people that break up and get back together, that’s awesome. You get time to be yourself. You get time to grow up. I think if you’re growing up attached to another person, you never really get solid as your own being.”
Miley and Liam make a joint red-carpet appearance for the first time in four years for the Hollywood premiere of Thor: Ragnarok, starring Liam’s brother Chris. The couple is drop-dead gorgeous.
November 2017: Liam makes a cameo on Saturday Night Live. Can you guess who the musical guest was?
And here’s a screenshot of Liam’s Price Is Right sketch, courtesy of his Insta:
Over Thanksgiving weekend, Miley sparks pregnancy rumors after sharing a photo of herself wearing an oversize gray shirt. Naturally, the photo, which included the hashtag #VeganTurkeyBaby, sends fans into a frenzy.
Before the end of the day, Miley responds to the pregnancy speculations on her Instagram Story, writing, “Not pregnant, just eating a shit-ton of tofurkey. Rude!!!!”
Ahead of her 25th birthday, Miley shares a photo of her birthday gift from Liam: a rainbow necklace of his nickname for her, Lili.
And before the end of the month, Liam posts this photo of his “Christmas angel” Miley.
January 2018: Miley and Liam jet to Australia ahead of Liam’s 28th birthday. Here they are leaving a restaurant on the Gold Coast looking sun-kissed and in love.
On Liam’s actual birthday, Miley shares this collage on Instagram:
February 2018: Miley wishes her Valentine, Liam, a happy Valentine’s Day on Twitter with an outtake from her shoot with Converse and photographer Ellen von Unwerth. Note that Miley is holding a heart-shaped cutout of “Lili,” Liam’s nickname for her.
March 2018: Miley and Liam make a rare red-carpet appearance together at the 90th Academy Awards, first at Elton John’s annual AIDS Foundation viewing party and later at the Vanity Fair after-party. They look divine.
April 2018: Road trip! Miley posted this video of herself jamming in the car, with Liam behind the wheel. In true annoyingly adorable boyfriend fashion, Liam plays a practical joke while Miley’s busy snapping the moment.
May 2018: The couple pays a visit to Las Vegas to see Sir Elton John rock it out at Caesar’s Palace.
June 2018: The two are spotted walking in the streets of Los Angeles—Miley with green juice in hand. All seems right in the world.
July 2018: AND THEN IT HAPPENS. For reasons unknown, Miley Cyrus deletes ALL HER PHOTOS on Instagram, including those with Liam as well as her profile photo. Naturally, rumors circulate that the two have split.
Meanwhile, Liam is spotted in New York City, filming for Isn’t It Romantic.
Ultimately, the couple squash breakup rumors with yet another road-trip prank video à la Liam’s Instagram Story.
August 2018: Liam posts a rare photo of Miley to his IG, confirming that everything’s still peachy keen in their relationship.
November 2018: Liam and Miley’s home burns down in the Malibu fires. All that remains is a sign that says “LOVE.”
Later in the month, Liam wishes Miley a happy birthday on Instagram, saying she’s “more precious than ever.”
December 2018: Miley goes on the Howard Stern Show and reveals that Liam single-handedly saved their four horses, two pigs, seven dogs, and three cats from the Malibu fires. And it earned him some hot sex. “He got a lot of action for saving the animals....Yeah, he got a lot of action,” she says. “We had to make sure he knew I was very, very grateful.”
Also December 2018: Miley confirms that Liam is the whole, um, package by commenting on a meme claiming he has “good dick game, empathy, a height above 5'9", no hoes, and common sense.”
ALSO December 2018: Miley and Liam are married! The couple spends Christmas Eve-Eve with friends and family, and not only does Miley wear a white dress...
...but there are also some pretty telling Mr. and Mrs. balloons.
January 14, 2019: Miley Instagrams the cutest message to her new husband (!) for his birthday, and it is LONG and FANTASTIC.
“L, HBD to my #1….When we met, you were 19, today you are 29….I thought I could share some of my favorite things about my favorite dude in honor of this very special day. The way you look at me, the way you look at our dogs, our pigs, our horses, our cats, our fish. The way you look at your family…your friends…at strangers…at life. The way you look at the ocean and the way you always take your time. The way you go outside when I ask ‘What’s the weather like?’ instead of checking your phone....
“The look on your face when you receive good news and how you look AT the bad news. I love how you always try things your way but are never to [sic] proud to ask for help. (Yes, I’ve noticed and taken note, I’m a work in progress.) The way you paint, the colors you choose. I love your dirty socks on the floor ’cause that means YOU’RE HOME.
“I love when you introduce me to a new band, so when you’re away, I can listen and it feels like you’re here. I love watching The Sandlot with you. I love laying in bed late at night looking for new recipes, only going to sleep so we can wake up and make breakfast together having a hot cup of coffee (almost as hot as you are). I love those little lines around your eyes when you laugh or look into the sun....I love the way we speak in our own language. Sometimes with just a look.
“I love laying on the couch eating Chinese when we’re hungover from the night before. I love going to a random party and remembering basically everyone is fake AF out here and how lucky I am to share a life with someone so REAL. I love the way you always listen & the way that you care…(even when it’s about RuPaul’s Drag Race).
“I love having a teeth brushin’ partner & when I’m lazy how you’ll comb my hair. I even love when you shrink my favorite T-shirt in the dryer—because having a boyfriend (oh em gee I almost forgot you’re my friggen husband now) that does laundry is pretty much the best thing ever. I love taking turns and sharing with you. I love taking long drives, sometimes going nowhere. I love how you’ll sit and listen to me pluck out a new tune on the guitar for hours....I love the way you mumble out loud when you read a new script or book. I love how you learn and grow. I love writing songs about you on the piano. I love how you let ME be ME.”
February 14, 2019: Miley posted an extremely NSFW Valentine’s Day message for Liam, which was peak “Miley bein’ Miley.”
May 4, 2019: Liam reveals that he wants “maybe 20 kids” with Miley, which is a LOT, my dude. He told GQ Australia that he’d like to become a parent “one day.”
“Once we don’t have so many dogs,” he said. “You couldn’t bring a baby into our house right now. But one day, we’ll know when it’s right. But right now? Not for the time being.”
May 6, 2019: The couple hits the Met Gala red carpet, looking extra sparkly.
July 11, 2019: Miley admits in an interview with Elle that she dislikes being called a wife.
“Do people really think that I’m at home in a fucking apron cooking dinner? I’m in a hetero relationship, but I still am very sexually attracted to women,” she said. “I made a partner decision. This is the person I feel has my back the most. I definitely don’t fit into a stereotypical wife role. I don’t even like that word.”
Early August 10, 2019: Breakup rumors swirl around the couple after Miley posts a vacation Instagram sans wedding ring.
Late August 10, 2019: Miley and Liam break up officially. 😢 Her rep confirms to People that the two have parted ways after getting married in December.
Here’s what the rep’s statement said:
“Liam and Miley have agreed to separate at this time. Ever-evolving, changing as partners and individuals, they have decided this is what’s best while they both focus on themselves and careers. They still remain dedicated parents to all of their animals they share while lovingly taking this time apart. Please respect their process and privacy.”
August 11, 2019: Literally the next day, Miley goes on an Italian vacay to Lake Como with her gal pal Kaitlynn Carter. Like Miley, Kaitlynn also just split from her ex-mans (Brody Jenner). It all seems to be in good girly fun, until pictures of Miley and Kaitlynn kissing surface on the internet. Everyone goes nuts.
The same day, Miley addresses the breakup for the first time on Instagram with a lengthy post about evolution:
“Don’t fight evolution, because you will never win. Like the mountain I am standing on top of, which was once under water, connected with Africa, change is inevitable. The Dolomites were not created overnight, it was over millions of years that this magnificent beauty was formed. My dad always told me ‘Nature never hurries, but it is always on time’...it fills my heart with peace and hope KNOWING that is true. I was taught to respect the planet and its process and I am committed to doing the same with my own....💙”
August 12, 2019: Liam follows suit and decides to make his own post on Instagram to briefly confirm their breakup. He says he wishes Miley “nothing but health and happiness.”
A rumor also surfaces that Miley initiated the breakup. A source tells Us Weekly that “Miley was the one who ended things with Liam....They haven’t been together for months.”
August 13, 2019: A People report gives Miley and Liam shippers hope that their breakup is only temporary and that a divorce is pretty unlikely for the pair. “They are having a break right now because they needed it. It was a bad situation with a lot of disagreements,” the source said, adding that “they both agreed it’s better to spend time apart, but this doesn’t mean their relationship is completely over....There is absolutely hope that they will get back together again.” It sounds like pretty good news!
August 14, 2019: More details come out about why Miley and Liam decided to end their relationship. Apparently, Miley was fed up Liam’s excessive party habits. A People source set the record straight, saying that Miley is often seen as the partier of the two when it’s really Liam who gets wild behind the scenes. “Everyone always thinks Miley is problematic and immature and a hard-core partier while he’s this chill surfer dude, but that’s actually [not accurate],” the source said. “Liam parties with his friends, and Miley thinks he should’ve grown out of that by now.” The tables certainly have turned, that’s for sure!
August 15, 2019: Even though Miley was the one who ended their relationship, she’s having a difficult time letting things go. I mean, I would too if I had feelings for someone since 2009! “[Miley and Liam] have a long history together, and that’s a huge part of why she has a hard time letting him go,” a source tells People. “At the end of the day, she wants to be happy, and she genuinely wants Liam to be happy too.”
August 16, 2019: Miley releases her newest single, “Slide Away,” and it makes a lottt of references to her breakup with Liam. Miley even calls out Liam’s drinking and drug habits, which is...a lot, to say the least.
August 21, 2019: Liam files for divorce from Miley, citing “irreconcilable differences.” TMZ sources close to the couple allegedly claim that Miley and Liam signed a prenup, so the financial aspects of the marriage are already taken care of. And since Liam and Miley don’t have any children, the divorce will be neat and tidy.
Late August 21, 2019: ET releases its own report that discusses why Liam decided to file for the divorce. As much as Liam loves Miley, their source claims, Liam is too traditional and would have a hard time with Miley having experiences with other people. “Liam’s decision to file for divorce is sad, but in the end, it was never going to work....They are too different. Liam never wanted to share Miley with anyone. He loves her and he is far too traditional. He finally realized he just wants to start fresh.”
August 22, 2019: Miley goes on a very dramatic Twitter rant telling her side of the story the day after Liam files for divorce. In her rant, Miley clarifies that her marriage to Liam didn’t end because she cheated on him. She also delved into her wilder past, discussing her partying, drinking, casual drug usage, and infidelity to her previous partners but made it abundantly clear she left all that in the past when she chose to be with Liam.
She began her rant by saying that she isn’t covering up any lies and she’s an open book:
“I can accept that the life I’ve chosen means I must live completely open and transparent with my fans who I love, and the public, 100% of the time. What I cannot accept is being told I’m lying to cover up a crime I haven’t committed. I have nothing to hide.”
As far as those cheating allegations, Miley said she never cheated on Liam, despite cheating on her lovers in the past.
“But the truth is, once Liam & I reconciled, I meant it & I was committed. There are NO secrets to uncover here. I’ve learned from every experience in my life. I’m not perfect, I don’t want to be, it’s boring. I’ve grown up in front of you, but the bottom line is, I HAVE GROWN UP. I can admit to a lot of things but I refuse to admit that my marriage ended because of cheating. Liam and I have been together for a decade. I’ve said it before & it remains true, I love Liam and always will.”
Miley ended her tweet thread (which had a whopping 11 tweets, I counted!) by saying she loves being the way she is—even if that means she’s a “twerking, pot-smoking, foul-mouthed hillbilly.” In short: She’s just bein’ Miley!
August 23, 2019: TMZ reports that Miley will get full custody of the 15 pets she and Liam shares. In case you forgot, that includes their seven dogs, three cats, two horses, two mini horses, and one pig. So basically, they had a whole mini farm going on.
Because Miley and Liam live in California, Liam can technically fight to have some type of custody of the pets. Liam is choosing not to do that, at least not right now anyway. According to the initial TMZ divorce report, sources close to the couple say that Liam and Miley just want things to pass quickly and smoothly, which is probably why Liam is letting the pets go without a fight (*sigh*).
September 16, 2019: New reports surface that claim Liam learned about his breakup through social media, which is...harsh. Page Six reports that he was “blindsided” by the statement Miley’s rep released and by the photos of Miley and Kaitlynn Carter kissing.
December 24, 2019: On Christmas Eve, TMZ reported that Miley and Liam’s divorce is officially done. According to their sources, they had a prenup that divided their property, they had no kids, and it was already decided that Miley would keep all the animals, so the technicalities of the split weren’t too difficult. That said, TMZ claimed that “the divorce was marked by significant bitterness on both sides, but that seems to have subsided as they decided it’s better to move on than fight.” The outlet’s sources also claimed Miley’s lawyer will file all legal documents today to announce they’ve reached a settlement.
April 7, 2020: The dust has finally settled, it seems, because an Entertainment Tonight source is spilling the beans on how rocky things would be between Miley and Liam if they stayed married. “Liam loved Miley so much, but in the back of his mind, he always knew a life with her would prove difficult because she never seemed ready to settle down,” the source says, adding that “Liam wanted a marriage and family.”
Miley, on the other hand, “just wants Liam to be happy,” which is sweet. “She knows how important love and marriage are for him, but she just needed her independence,” the source says. “Miley and Liam have moved on and it seems they’re both where they most want to be in life.”
September 2, 2020: Roughly one year after her split from Liam, Miley opens up about their divorce during an appearance on Joe Rogan’s podcast. “What really sucked about it wasn’t the fact that me and someone that I loved realized that we don’t love each other the way that we used to anymore. That’s OK, I can accept that,” she muses. “I can’t accept the villainizing and just all those stories.”
The celeb also dishes on her relationship with The Hills star Kaitlynn Carter: “It’s just amazing to me that the public kind of thinks that there’s no gap of time that they didn’t see that could possibly be what led to this. Like it’s not ‘One day you were happy on the carpet and the next day you were making out with your friend in Italy, what the f*ck?’. Well, there was a lot of time in between that that you didn’t see.” TBH, fair!
December 3, 2020: Miley’s not shy about sharing what she learned from her breakup with Liam, and happily, reports say he’s cool with that.
Miley spoke about her past relationship with Liam Hemsworth on The Howard Stern Show, saying “there was too much conflict” and “when I come home, I want to be anchored by someone. I don’t get off on drama or fighting.” She admitted she still has love for Liam, though, saying, “I really do and did love him very, very, very much and still do, always will.”
After her interview, ~sources~ said Liam knew what Miley said but he wasn’t mad about it and instead remains focused on his new relationship with Gabriella Brooks. (Talk about chill exes!)
“Liam Hemsworth isn’t upset by the recent interview Miley did where she says there was too much conflict in their marriage. Liam was very hurt when they initially broke up, but he has moved on now and is happy with Gabriella,” an Entertainment Tonight source shared. “He’s very traditional and Gabriella shares the same values as him and gets along with his family. Their relationship is easygoing and they have similar upbringings and backgrounds.”
January 13, 2023: On Liam's bday of all days, Miley drops her hit breakup anthem, “Flowers,” which chronicles her renewed sense of independence following her split from the actor.
A full-on, self-love spin on the Bruno Mars track “When I Was Your Man,” which Liam allegedly dedicated to Miley during one point in their relationship in which they made up, the singer belts, “I can buy myself flowers / ... And I can hold my own hand”—a seemingly pointed response to Bruno's lyrics, “I should have bought you flowers / And held your hand.”
In the first verse of the song, the Disney Channel alum also seems to refer to the moment when she and Liam lost their home in a California wildfire: “We were good, we were gold / Kinda dream that can’t be sold / We were right ‘til we weren’t / Built a home and watched it burn.”
Back in 2020, the singer told Rolling Stone that the fire had played a role in her and the actor's breakup, saying, “[It] did what I couldn’t do myself.” “It removed me from what no longer was serving its purpose. And then as you drown, you reach for that lifesaver and you want to save yourself. I think that’s really what, ultimately, getting married was for me. One last attempt to save myself,” she added.
March 10, 2023: After Miley releases her highly-anticipated album Endless Summer Vacation, fans on Twitter almost immediately begin speculating that her song “Muddy Feet” may allude to Liam having potentially cheated on her.
In the track, the musician sings about smelling perfume that doesn't belong to her on her partner: “And you smell like perfume that I didn't purchase / Now I know why you've been closing the curtains / Get the f*ck out of my house.” Plus, in the chorus of the song, Miley sings about the ex-partner, “coming 'round with your muddy feet.”
To check out a full-blown analysis on the song, head on right over this way:
August 29, 2023: In a TikTok video for her series where she's—in her words—“looking back on my life & sharing untold stories from 1992 until now,” Miley recalls how she felt making her first solo record, Meet Miley Cyrus, in the Malibu house she'd eventually share with Liam.
“The Meet Miley Cyrus record was really where I started writing my own songs as a solo artist, and so I was working with a producer in Malibu that lived in a house in Ramirez Canyon, which I would've never known 15 years later I would be living in that house, which would eventually burn down,” says the singer-songwriter in the video, referring to the 2018 wildfires that destroyed her would-be home.
“That house had so much magic to it,” she adds. “It ended up really changing my life.”
I'm not crying, you are!
September 7, 2023: The singer opens up about the moment she realized her marriage with Liam wasn't going to work in her “Used to Be Young” series, beginning, “So, I just want to slow down. I have to slow down because this is actually serious. So Glastonbury was in June, which is when the decision had been made that...me and Liam’s commitment to being married just—really came from, of course, a place of love first because we had been together for 10 years, but also from a place of trauma and just trying to rebuild as quickly as we could.”
She goes on to explain in the vid that, “The day of the show was the day I decided that it was no longer going to work in my life to be in that relationship. So that was another moment where the work, the performance, the character came first, and I guess that's why it's now so important to me for that to not be the case. That the human comes first.”
During a September 1 episode of the series, the singer also touched on her relationship with her ex after she reacted to a photo of herself and Liam kissing in The Last Song. “Once we had written the screenplay, it was time to audition all the guys that would play Will, my boyfriend in the movie. We had gotten it down from thousands to the final three, and Liam was a part of that final three,” she recalled.
“I think one of the elements that made that movie feel so special was it was watching two very young people fall in love with each other, which was happening in real time and real life,” she continued before adding, “So, the chemistry was undeniable and that was the beginning of a long, 10-year relationship.”
Now that that’s all said and done, I want to pay my respects. RIP, Miley and Liam—you will remain in our hearts forevermore. 😭
