Disney Channel classic Hannah Montana is responsible for the careers of Miley Cyrus, Emily Osment and Mitchel Musso. The series premiered on March 24, 2006, and aired for four seasons until January 16, 2011. All these years later, and Emily — who played Lilly Prescott on the show — has yet to watch one episode!

“I can’t even tell you whether I’ve watched it at all — is that terrible?” the actress admitted during an October 2021 interview on the “Chicks in the Office” podcast. “I remember watching the premiere, because they had a party for us on stage. And I remember that was such an interesting time, because we had no idea what it was going to be, that it was just going to be this sensation that, like, swept the world.”

Emily continued, “We were halfway through [filming] season 1 by the time it came out and the immediate change that we felt just walking around in the world was so weird. I mean, Miley used to come with me to my school dances and, like, nobody knew who she was and then immediately everything changed. And that was very strange.”

When celebrating the 15-year anniversary of the show in May 2021, Miley — who played normal teen Miley Stewart with a secret identity of pop star Hannah Montana — shared a heartfelt letter addressed to her iconic character. “Dear @HannahMontana, I still love you 15 years later,” the songstress captioned her post.

“Since the first time I slid those blonde bangs over my forehead in the best attempt to conceal my identity, then slipped into a puke-pink terrycloth robe with a bedazzled ‘HM’ over the [heart]. I didn’t know then … that is where you would live forever,” she wrote via social media. “Not just in [my heart], but [in the hearts of] millions of people around the world. Although you are considered to be an ‘alter ego,’ in reality there was a time in my life when you held more of my identity in your glove than I did in my bare hands.”

 

Miley continued, “I am indebted not only to you Hannah but to any and everyone who believed in me from the beginning. You all have my loyalty + deepest appreciation until the end. With all sincerity I say THANK YOU!”

Over the years, the cast has spilled tons of little-known behind-the-scenes secrets about Hannah Montana and filming the show. Scroll through our gallery to uncover them all, and bring on all the nostalgia. 

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