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Billy Ray Cyrus’ love life has often made news these past few years. The country singer went through a divorce from Tish Cyrus, his wife of almost 30 years. Recently, Cyrus also got engaged to Australian singer-songwriter Firerose.

Cyrus and Firerose’s relationship has attracted the attention of many onlookers, especially because the two met when Firerose was a young adult on the set of Hannah Montana.

Billy Ray Cyrus and Tish Cyrus went through a public divorce

Cyrus married Tish in 1993. The pair welcomed three children, including singers Miley Cyrus and Noah Cyrus. Additionally, they both had kids from previous relationships.

Cyrus and Tish’s relationship was sometimes very rocky. The two of them almost divorced in 2010 and 2013. However, they called off both of those divorces. In 2013, they also shared that they were seeing a couples therapist and working on strengthening their bond.

Nonetheless, Tish filed for divorce in April 2022. According to TMZ, “irreconcilable differences” was cited as a reason for the divorce. Court documents also revealed that Cyrus and Tish had not lived together for over two years.

Billy Ray Cyrus met fiancée Firerose on the set of ‘Hannah Montana’

Shot from Firerose's official music video for "Time," featuring Billy Ray Cyrus
A shot from Firerose’s official music video for “Time,” featuring Billy Ray Cyrus | FIREROSE via Youtube

Cyrus seems to have moved on from his relationship with Tish. In August 2022, Firerose went public with their romance, and the couple announced their engagement in November.

In an interview with People, Cyrus described their first meeting 12 years ago while Cyrus was filming Hannah Montana. Firerose was 22 at the time, while Cyrus was 49.

“I loved doing that show,” he said. “There’s a couple old pine trees on the lot that look like Tennessee. [My dog] Tex and I would go out there in the middle of the day and he’d take care of his business and we’d stretch and I’d think how much I missed Tennessee. On that given day, Firerose came out of the front door. There was almost a moment of, I don’t know, recognition. I was like, ‘This girl’s a star.'”

After learning that Firerose was auditioning for a job, which she did not get, Cyrus decided to use his connections to help her career. The singer explained:

“I just thought, well, the casting agents, the producers, the writers, they’re all on the floor of where we do Hannah Montana. And I actually said to her, ‘Don’t ever take a strange man up on this offer, but, in this case, Tex will testify that you will be totally safe. I’m going to introduce you to a producer, and you can kind of make yourself at home and watch us rehearse, and you know, maybe it might lead to a role or just another contact at Disney.’

And so, off me and her and Tex went back to the studio and I think she met a lot of the cast and met the producers, writers. And, in some ways, well, in a lot of ways, we became friends.”

How Billy Ray Cyrus and Firerose became more than friends

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Cyrus and Firerose kept in touch over the years. The pair also worked on music and even released a collaboration song, “New Day,” in July 2021.

Firerose shared with People that Cyrus often “confided in me a lot of what was going on in his life.” She tried to be “just the best friend I could possibly be, supporting him.” Cyrus explained the process of them becoming more than friends:

“There was sickness and death, and hard times. All of the sudden, the life that I’ve always known as a touring artist didn’t exist anymore. A moment of so much change. And at the same time, Firerose, who had been such a light of positivity, such a best friend.

And then when we began sharing the music, it just evolved more into, as musical soulmates, to soulmates, happy, pure love that to me, I didn’t know could exist.”

In the summer of 2022, Firerose moved in with Cyrus, and the pair has been living on his farm in Franklin, Tennessee. Soon after, he proposed.

Cyrus also shared that “there’s no hard feelings” with his children over his divorce from Tish and his new romance, despite what the tabloids may say.

“Everyone knew that that relationship was over a long time ago,” he said. “Everybody’s turning the page. It’s been a lot, but everyone knew it was time for a change.”