Miley Cyrus Blames Twerking Phase on Too Much Time With Her Dad

Miley Cyrus and her dad, Billy Ray Cyrus.
Miley Cyrus and her dad, Billy Ray Cyrus. (Photo: Getty Images)

Well, that’s one way to look at it. Miley Cyrus claims her rebellious, no-shirt, booty-out twerking phase was the result of (drumroll, please) too much time with her dad. During an appearance on the Zach Sang Show in Hollywood last week, the 24-year-old star said she “probably” wouldn’t do a reboot of Hannah Montana — the Disney show that made her famous — because it would force her to hang out with her father, Billy Ray Cyrus.

“I didn’t get a school escape like most people. I went to work with my dad,” she explained. “That was really hard, every day from like 11 to 18.” Another difference between her teenage years and most? Getting her driver’s license didn’t give her any added independence. In fact, it was the opposite. “And then I started driving my dad toward the end because I could start driving, and then my grandma went with me,” she reflected.

Billy Ray Cyrus and Miley Cyrus during the<em> Hannah Montana</em> years.
Billy Ray Cyrus and Miley Cyrus during the Hannah Montana years. (Photo: Disney Channel/Michael Desmond)

“So that was a lot of time spent, Dad and Grandma, which is why when I turned 18, you wondered why I was twerking at the Juicy J show,” she added. (ICYMI, she famously jumped onto the stage at the House of Blues during that concert and started twerking.)

“I just spent 10 years every day with my dad and grandma. I had to break free.” In other words, those few years when she smoked joints onstage, twerked with Robin Thicke, and ended her engagement to Liam Hemsworth? That was her little rebellion.

Robin Thicke and Miley Cyrus perform during the 2013 MTV Video Music Awards.
Robin Thicke and Miley Cyrus perform during the 2013 MTV Video Music Awards. (Photo: Jeff Kravitz/FilmMagic for MTV)

And it’s over now — or at least, it’s mostly over. At 24, Cyrus is busy promoting her new single, “Malibu,” from her upcoming album, is back together with Hemsworth, and is (usually) wearing clothes when she’s in public.

On Sunday, she’s slated to perform the song at the Billboard Music Awards in Las Vegas. No word on whether Billy Ray will be there to support her or not.


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