Billy Ray Cyrus is officially on his way to tie the knot again. The "Achy Breaky Heart" singer confirmed to People that he is engaged to 34-year-old Australian singer Firerose, whom he met on the set of Hannah Montana.
The two confirmed they were dating in September after being seen on one another's social media accounts and collaborating on a song in 2021. Engagement rumors then began to circulate after Firerose was seen sporting a diamond ring in photos. Now, Cyrus is opening up about how they met and how their burgeoning friendship turned into a relationship.
Cyrus explained that they met 12 years ago on the set of the Disney show that turned his daughter, Miley, into a star. He was taking a break from shooting one day with his dog, Tex, when he first saw her.
"There's a couple old pine trees on the lot that look like Tennessee," he shares. "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.'"
Firerose approached Cyrus and his dog and shared with the singer that she was on set auditioning for a part, which she didn't get. Cyrus then invited her to meet the staff of Hannah Montana, and he says they "became friends" after that encounter.
"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,'" he says. "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."
Flash forward a few years, and Cyrus says their friendship continued. They became writing partners and released their duet, "New Day," in July 2021.
"Billy confided in me a lot of what was going on in his life," Firerose shares with the publication. "I was just the best friend I could possibly be, supporting him."
Then, in April 2022, Cyrus' wife Tish filed for divorce. Firerose then moved to Cyrus' home in Franklin, Tenn. in the "early summer," according to People. He proposed in August.
"There was sickness and death, and hard times," Cyrus says of the time. "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. Again, we're musicians, first and foremost, both of us. And we found this harmony, and this rhythm, this melody to life."
Firerose describes the proposal as informal, saying, "Billy looked at me and said, 'Do you, do you wanna marry me?' And I was just like, 'Of course I do. I love you,' " she says. The two later picked out an engagement ring.
Cyrus and Firerose have now released another single together called "Time."
