Firerose says she'd tell her younger self to 'run' from 'lunatic' Billy Ray Cyrus after nasty divorce

LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA: In an exclusive interview with Stellar magazine, Firerose, the 36-year-old Sydney-born singer, candidly reflected on her tumultuous relationship with 63-year-old ex-husband Billy Ray Cyrus. The couple first met in 2010 and recently finalized their divorce in August 2024 after splitting in May.

Firerose reminisced about their initial encounter at the studio lot where Hannah Montana was filmed. Their meeting was sparked when Cyrus' dog approached her while she was just 22 and he was 48. In a thought-provoking twist, Firerose expressed what she would tell her younger self about steering clear of the country music star.

Firerose recollects Billy Ray Cyrus’ ‘grand promises’ that ‘he never fulfilled’

In her interview with the magazine, Firerose shared a memorable conversation with Bily Ray Cyrus, where he expressed, “I’ll just introduce you to everyone else and we can hang out for the rest of the day.” Reflecting on the encounter, she admitted her initial reaction was one of skepticism, stating, “My gut instinct, honestly, was: What does this guy want? I probably should have had way better boundaries.” 

After their initial meeting on a Hollywood lot, they spent time together, with Cyrus referring to her as his soulmate. Despite this close bond, Firerose emphasized that she had no romantic interest in him at the time. “But,” she added, “I couldn’t have seen 10 years into the future," as per People.

They later reunited during the Covid-19 to collaborate on a song, which sparked a romance leading to a four-year relationship and a seven-month marriage marked by claims of abuse. “When I think about what I just went through, I would have told my 22-year-old self to run in the opposite direction and never look back,” Firerose shared.

She recounted how Cyrus showered her with extravagant promises he never kept, saying things like, “He’d say bizarre things like, we’re going to have this epic love story beyond anything you can imagine. We’re going to have twins, and call them Melody and Harmony.”

Firerose details how she accepted his ‘lunacy as reality’

Billy Ray Cyrus also isolated her from friends and family, starting with their October 2023 wedding, where she had only one guest—who was allowed because she was doing Firerose’s hair. “In retrospect, and it breaks my heart,” she said. “How did I not think that that was so weird and unacceptable? I justified it like, well, that’s my life now. I accepted his lunacy as reality.”

This “lunacy,” as she called it, persisted beyond their wedding. “All of a sudden, instead of being my normal lively, outgoing self, I became very introverted unless we were working or together in public, where I’d often try to be overly positive as I was scared to let anyone see how devastatingly withdrawn I’d become,” she recalled. 

“My family and friends all had the same experience: me withdrawing and pushing them away.” To keep her at home, Cyrus would say, “Well, you can’t live that way anymore. You’re a Cyrus now. You can’t be going to church. You can’t be going to public places where people could follow you home. You’re going to be murdered.’ It sounds crazy, but that’s what was happening,”  she said.

By the time she realized what was happening, it felt too late, and Cyrus even blamed her for his past troubles. She remarked, "And I thought, I’m just going to keep loving him, pouring my heart and soul into this relationship." 

She hopes that sharing her story will reveal that such experiences are “much more common, unfortunately, than anyone would like to think.”

“I had to learn that it was something outside of me, something that I couldn’t fix,” she explained. “All I ever tried to do was love and trust this person, which was very ignorant of me,” she admitted. “I really wanted to believe that he was the good version of the man I’d fallen in love with."

Internet reacts to Firerose's remarks about Billy Ray Cyrus

After Firerose shared what she would have told her younger self upon meeting Billy Ray Cyrus for the first time, the story has been making headlines online. This has led to discussions among fans and internet users, with some even mocking her on Facebook.

One mocked Firerose by saying, "She sure didn't run when she ran up all of his credit cards."

Another added, "She couldn’t run when she saw his credit limit!"

One slammed, "She professed all this love then married after dating for two nanoseconds. She hardly knew him."

A fourth wrote, "He'd probably tell his younger self the same thing." 

A netizen stated, “There was a reason why someone so young would get with someone so much older,and we all know the reason why,they only complain,when it's over,and they may not have got everything they thought they would.”

A Facebook user claimed, "Firerose tell yourself Lesson Learned..."

Another wrote, "Excellent plan. You should have done it."

Someone else said, "Should of run when he came near you in the first place."

Another user shared, "And tell her to come up with a better name."

This article contains remarks made on the internet by individual people and organizations. MEAWW cannot confirm them independently and does not support claims or opinions being made online.