Miley Cyrus speaks out on her estrangement with dad Billy Ray Cyrus amid rift rumours
Throughout the duration of her childhood and teenage years, Miley and Billy Ray Cyrus were a picture of father-daughter bliss.
Having appeared side-by-side on Hannah Montana for five years, fans were delighted when the youngster went on to follow in her country star father's musical footsteps, with the duo going on to perform live together on countless occasions.
In recent years, however, the close-knit relationship between the pair has seemingly taken a beating, especially following the split of Billy Ray and Miley's mother, Tish.
So much so, that the Flowers hitmaker, 31, appears to have taken shots at her now-estranged father in several public blowouts - most recently during her Grammy Award acceptance speech, during which she thanked every member of her family besides Billy Ray, 62.
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Rumours of their rift first began following her parents' 2022 divorce, after which Miley reportedly 'sided with' her mother Tish, going on to support her subsequent relationship and marriage to Australian actor, Dominic Purcell.
Miley went on to unfollow her father on Instagram before rumours began swirling they were no longer on speaking terms, following his marriage to singer Firerose (real name Johanna Rosie Hodges), 34 - from whom he also allegedly divorced earlier this week.
Despite all of the relationship drama, however, Billy Ray posted about daughter Miley just a few days ago.
On 7 June, the 'Old Town Road' hitmaker shared a throwback of him alongside his daughter Miley at CMA Fest, formerly known as Fan Fair, as well as a poem he claimed to written after experiencing the festival.
He captioned the post: "One of my best memories ever: @cma Fest, back when it was Fan Fair.
"That's @mileycyrus and me, surrounded by thousands of incredible fans at the fairgrounds.
"The next day, someone handed me this picture, and I wrote that poem right then on the bus. I’m incredibly proud of her. She's a survivor and a true artist.
"She learned early on to love and appreciate the fans who make everything possible. We both cherish the connection we have with our fans and are grateful for every single one of you! Hope you all have a great Friday! Now rock the country!!!"
Yesterday, however, in a surprising twist of fate, Miley herself has finally addressed speculation of an official fall-out between the pair.
Speaking to television presenter David Letterman in his latest celebrity interview - which landed on Netflix on 12 June - she claimed to have learned both good and bad things from her 'Achey Breaky Heart' singer dad.
"He has a relationship and a foot on the ground to the real and to nature and he always did, even when he was super famous," she initially gushed.
"I'm grateful for being able to watch him ahead of me. He's almost given me this map. And there's a map of what to do and what not to do, and he's guided me on both."
Miley went on to note, however: "I also inherited the narcissism from my father."
Later in the interview, she reflected on her father's 'rough childhood', saying it made him who he is today.
"My childhood, really —I mean, we can go on and talk about the hard times and the struggles; you know, turning in my homework and learning my lines was tough — but I had food, I had love, I grew up in a beautiful big house," she said.
"And my dad didn't have that. So I have a lot of empathy and compassion for his childhood, which obviously developed to create the man he is now that I have a lot of love for."
Then, asked directly by the host about their rumoured estrangement, she appeared to shut speculation down.
After Lettermen suggested, "There's not estrangement here with your father. It's just the way things are played?," she replied: "Yeah. I think, what is so beautiful is that my parents, they served their children, and I know this.
"My parents served us and sacrificed so much for us. Anything we dreamed of, they made possible."
Topics: Miley Cyrus, Celebrity, US News, Parenting
Rhianna Benson