Billy Ray Cyrus explains his absence from the Hannah Montana premiere

One Hannah Montana star was noticeably absent from this week's premiere of the 20th anniversary show.

Fans of the Disney Channel hit expected Billy Ray Cyrus to join his former co-stars on the purple carpet to promote the TV special, which aired for the very first time back in 2006.

The country music star, 64, famously portrayed Robby Ray Stewart for five years, playing the on-screen father of his real-life daughter, Miley Cyrus.

Miley portrayed both the titular character and a fictionalised version of herself, Miley Stewart, on the show until its conclusion in 2011.

The actress was accompanied by several Hannah Montana alums in Los Angeles to promote the one-off episode, in which the group visited their old set and reminisced on some behind-the-scenes highlights. This included Miley's secret romance with fellow Disney child star Dylan Sprouse.

Despite appearing in the anniversary special, Billy Ray failed to appear alongside his daughter on the red carpet on Monday (23 Mar).

Miley promoted the show with several of her co-stars (Julian Hamilton/FilmMagic)

According to the star himself, Billy Ray had work commitments he couldn't get out of.

Taking to Instagram, the father-of-six claimed he'd been in the recording studio alongside children Braison and Noah the evening of the premiere.

"Been in the studio all night in Nashville working on my new record with my youngins Braison and Noah preparing for our @todayshow performance Good Friday!" Billy Ray penned.

"Dang feels like this is my ‘Sweet Niblets’ Sweet 16 on the road to the Final Four!"

'Sweet Niblets' is a reference that the 'Achey Breaky Heart' hit-maker seemingly took directly from the show, having served as one of Hannah Montana's key catchphrases.

During the Disney+ special, he and Miley, 33, embraced one another on the recreated version of the Stewart family home, reflecting on their time working together.

Billy Ray claimed he'd been working on his music (Instagram/@billyraycyrus)

Their reunion came amid the largely estranged relationship the father-daughter duo have reportedly endured in recent years - much of which seems to have been hinged on the singer's 2023 split from Miley's mother, Tish.

Despite this, on the show, the 'Flowers' chart-topper gushed: "I was really excited to have my dad join me because I know how much our relationship means to everyone that watched the show."

Miley also told the show's presenter, Alex Cooper: "I think that when me and my dad are good, people, they feel better. "It just feels good when the Cyruses are getting along."

During a particularly special moment, Billy Ray joked that he'd initially hoped another actor would have been cast as his daughter's on-screen father, to which Miley replied: "Well, I’m glad you were the dad."

The pair did reunite on the show (Disney+)

Aside from speculation regarding the state of his relationship with Miley, Billy Ray has been at the centre of several separate controversies in recent years.

In December, his former flame and fellow musician Firerose accused him of 'narcissistic abuse'.

She'd previously filed legal documents in June, accusing Billy Ray - from whom she split after just seven months of marriage - of 'extreme verbal, emotional and psychological abuse'. He'd filed paperwork of his own around the same time, claiming he'd endured the same treatment from her.

Earlier last year, Billy Ray also came under fire for his controversial performance at Republican leader Donald Trump's inaugural ball, which came months after he publicly endorsed the right-wing politician in the 2024 presidential election.