Tish Cyrus, the mother of pop star Miley Cyrus, dished out plenty of dirt about her divorce from ex-husband Billy Ray Cyrus during an appearance on the popular podcast Call Her Daddy.
In the podcast episode, released Wednesday, Tish, 56, appeared alongside her daughter Brandi Cyrus, 36.
At one point in the over-one-hour conversation, Tish talked about how challenging it was to divorce musician Billy Ray in 2022. The pair had a tumultuous marriage — and had earlier filed to divorce one another on separate occasions — but Tish said she for years stayed in the marriage over a “fear of being alone.”
Though she said she decided to leave Billy Ray in 2020, the death of her mother worsened her loneliness fears, and she did not file for divorce until two years later.
“It was so crazy because, honestly, my two biggest fears in life were always being alone and my mom passing away,” Tish said. “I was like, ‘I just don’t know if I’ll survive when my mom dies. I had one month of, honestly, a complete psychological breakdown.”
She revealed she’d even asked celebrity psychiatrist Daniel Amen to send her to a mental hospital, though he did not think it would be “the best thing for either of us,” according to Tish.
Tish said she weighed about 103 pounds and could not eat, sleep or stop crying during her month-long breakdown.
“I don’t have my mom, and then I don’t have my husband that’s been my husband for 30 years. Like, holy crap, I’m scared,” she recalled.
Tish was visibly relaxed during the interview — perhaps to do with the marijuana she smoked on camera — and likened the experience being interviewed by host Alexandra Cooper to “therapy.”
Looking back, Tish said she wished she’d “walked away” from her marriage sooner. She said she experienced “disrespect in every form” from Billy Ray but added that the disrespect went both ways during their marriage.
Brandi said she began to notice changes in her parents’ marriage over 10 years ago. Though she did not specify what was happening behind the scenes, Brandi said it was “hurtful” to see the way her father treated Tish.
Tish met Billy Ray, who is six years her senior, when she was 24. The couple married in 1993. She said he was a “huge part” of her life for many years, though the pair would eventually begin living separately toward the end of their marriage. During the COVID-19 pandemic, Tish said Billy Ray, now 62, lived in Tennessee, while she lived in Los Angeles.
Though she never wanted a divorce, Tish said her marriage to Billy Ray “fell apart” after she stopped trying to change herself to better suit him.
Both Tish and Billy Ray have since remarried.
Over a year after Tish filed for divorce, Billy Ray married Australian musician Joanna “Firerose” Hodges.
The couple first met 12 years ago on the set of the Disney Channel series Hannah Montana. Firerose, 34, appeared in an episode as Billy Ray’s partner and Miley’s new stepmother.
Cyrus has said he and Firerose kept in contact over the years after that.
Tish herself married Prison Break actor Dominic Purcell, 53, in August 2023.
She seems to be quite content in her new marriage and said on Call Her Daddy that she loves waking up in the mornings beside her “hot, frikkin’ ass husband.”
Tish said “there’s not one second” that she does not feel loved by Purcell.
Despite the newfound married bliss for the divorcees, the split appears to have caused some tension in the Cyrus clan.
As Miley accepted her Grammy for Best Pop Solo Performance for her song Flowers at the award ceremony Sunday, she thanked Tish, but made no mention of Billy Ray.
“I don’t think I forgot anyone,” Miley jeered, adding, “but I might have forgotten underwear!”
Billy Ray and Tish share five children: Brandi, 36, Trace, 34, Miley, 31, Braison, 29, and Noah, 24.
