Many of us millennials grew up with Miley Cyrus, following her as she went from child star on Hannah Montana (2006–2011) to grown-up teen in The Last Song (2010)—where she met the man who would become her husband—to rebellious pop star on her album Bangerz (2013), all the way to mature boss with her hit “Flowers” (2023).
As Cyrus has explored her changing identities, she has experimented in her love life, too. Though she spent nearly a decade in an on-and-off relationship with actor Liam Hemsworth, she also had brief romances with other industry names.
Ahead, see a breakdown of her dating history.
Maxx Morando (2021–present)
Cyrus is currently dating fellow musician Maxx Morando. The two first fueled romance rumors in 2021, when they attended the Gucci Love Parade fashion show and held hands. They’ve kept their relationship mostly under wraps since—though they’ve been spotted engaging in PDA on various occasions and have made several joint appearances, including at the Versace Fall/Winter 2023 fashion show, and at the 2024 Grammys, where Cyrus won big for her hit “Flowers.”
In February 2024, a source said the two had moved in together. “She is very happy with him,” the insider told People. “Miley has changed a lot in the past couple of years. She seems more calm and harmonious. Everyone loves Maxx. He’s a great guy. She is very happy with him. He’s private and doesn’t like being in the press. It’s been good for her.”
Cody Simpson (2019–2020)
Shortly after her fling with friend Kaitlynn Carter, Cyrus jumped into a heated romance with Australian musician Cody Simpson (who dated Gigi Hadid from 2013 to 2015). The two made their relationship public in October 2019, when they were spotted making out while on an açai bowl date—and weeks later, flaunted their chemistry with a series of NSFW photos. Throughout their relationship, the pair attended family members’ weddings together and even got matching tattoos.
In August 2020, however, Cyrus confirmed that she and Simpson had broken up. The two remain friends.
Kaitlynn Carter (August–September 2019)
Fresh off her breakup from longtime love Liam Hemsworth, Cyrus jumped into an unexpected, short-lived romance with good friend The Hills: New Beginnings star Kaitlynn Carter, who was also fresh off a breakup, hers from Hills costar Brody Jenner. Cyrus and Carter went public with the relationship in August 2019, when they were photographed kissing on a sunny vacation in Lake Como, Italy. Following the trip, they went on various dates around Los Angeles, and Cyrus even clapped back at Jenner when he made a joke about the romance online. But by September, the two women had called it off, and Cyrus moved on with Cody Simpson.
In a personal essay for Elle a couple of months later, Carter reflected on her brief romance with Cyrus following their three-year friendship. “Until that trip, it had never crossed my mind that I was even capable of loving a woman the way I loved her,” Carter wrote. She added that the romance “just happened and it felt exactly right.” And though it ended as suddenly as it started, Carter said it taught her a lot about herself, her fluid sexuality, and her ability to be happy and live her truth without being restricted by labels and societal norms.
Liam Hemsworth (2016–2019)
Cyrus and Australian actor Hemsworth had previously dated from 2010 to 2013. After seeing other people for a couple years, they rekindled their romance in 2016 and quickly got engaged again. Cyrus showed off her engagement ring on Instagram, as well as several photos of herself and Hemsworth looking so in love over the holidays.
In 2017, Cyrus got candid about her rekindled relationship with Hemsworth, telling Billboard that they had to “refall for each other” after having changed and grown in different ways during their time apart.
The next year, Cyrus and Hemsworth’s Malibu mansion burned down in Southern California’s wildfires. Cyrus later spoke of how the experience made her want to hold Hemsworth closer, but it ultimately marked a big turning point in her life.
On Sunday, December 23, 2018, Hemsworth and Cyrus married in a private ceremony at home, surrounded by close friends and loved ones. The two confirmed the happy news days later, posting some black-and-white portraits from their wedding day. On her Instagram, Cyrus captioned the photos of her embracing Hemsworth: “12.23.18” and “10 years later …..” On a photo of them kissing, the singer wrote: “This is probably our one – millionth kiss.” Hemsworth shared the same photo, writing in his caption, “My love.”
Sadly, the newlywed bliss did not last long. On August 10, 2019, Cyrus’s rep confirmed the couple had split. Three days later, Hemsworth confirmed the news too, writing in an Instagram post, “Just a quick note to say that Miley and I have recently separated, and I wish her nothing but health and happiness going forward.”
They finalized their divorce on January 28, 2020, and were declared legally single on February 22.
Three years later, on Hemsworth’s birthday, January 13, 2023, Cyrus released her hit single “Flowers,” which fans have speculated is about her rebirth after the end of her relationship with him.
Stella Maxwell (2015)
Cyrus, who has always been open about her pansexuality, began casually seeing model Stella Maxwell in July 2015. Of the fling, she told Elle U.K., “Stella’s awesome, but as soon as you hang out with someone, you get labeled as in a relationship. And I’m like, you can’t just assume that everyone I’m sitting at dinner with is a date. It’d be like we’re on a date right now.”
Two years later, Cyrus released the song “She’s Not Him,” which many fans believe pinpoints the moment Cyrus realized she was still in love with Hemsworth while dating Maxwell.
Patrick Schwarzenegger (2014–2015)
In 2013, following her first breakup with Hemsworth, Cyrus was linked to Good Charlotte guitarist Benji Madden and music producer Mike Will, among others. (Hemsworth, meanwhile, was spotted kissing Eiza González.) It was a year of experimentation, ultimately leading Cyrus to Patrick Schwarzenegger.
In November 2014, multiple sources confirmed to Us Weekly that Cyrus was dating her longtime friend, the actor and son of movie star–turned–California governor Arnold Schwarzenegger. The couple went public with their sweet love, attending various events together, but due to their conflicting schedules—Cyrus being an international pop star and Schwarzenegger taking college classes at USC—they split about five months later.
Liam Hemsworth (2010–2013)
Cyrus and Hemsworth were each other’s first true loves.
The two began dating in 2010, after meeting months earlier while starring opposite one another in the Nicholas Sparks adaptation The Last Song.
“Once we had written the screenplay, it was time to audition all the guys who would play Will, my boyfriend in the movie,” Cyrus said on her “Used to Be Young” TikTok series last year, recalling how her on-set meeting with Hemsworth came about. “We had gotten it down from thousands to the final three, and Liam was a part of that final three.”
She continued: “I think one of the elements that made that movie feel so special was it was watching two very young people fall in love with each other, which was happening in real time and in real life, so the chemistry was undeniable. That was the beginning of a long 10-year relationship.”
Cyrus and Hemsworth spent the next couple of years in an on-again, off-again relationship, and in 2012, the Australian actor proposed. “I’m so happy to be engaged and look forward to a life of happiness with Liam,” Cyrus told People at the time. But the next year, they called off their engagement and parted ways. It was then that Cyrus entered her Bangerz era.
Justin Gaston (2008–2009)
At 16, Cyrus began dating 20-year-old stud Justin Gaston, a contestant on her dad Billy Ray Cyrus’s reality show, Nashville Star. The two attended several public events during their time together, but parted ways after about nine months.
Sources speculated at the time that the relationship got complicated because Cyrus was still hanging out with ex-boyfriend Nick Jonas. Whatever the case, a few weeks later, she flew off to Savannah, Georgia, to film The Last Song—and the rest is history.
Nick Jonas (2006)
Cyrus and Jonas met in June 2006 at a charity event and quickly began dating (though they did not confirm their romance until it had ended). That same year, the Jonas Brothers opened for Cyrus’s Best of Both Worlds Tour. A month before the tour ended, the pair broke up, and Cyrus opened up about the relationship in an interview with Seventeen, revealing that she and Jonas “became boyfriend and girlfriend the day we met.” She said, “Nick and I loved each other. We still do, but we were in love with each other. For two years he was basically my 24/7. But it was really hard to keep it from people. We were arguing a lot, and it really wasn’t fun.” Cyrus added, “Maybe he’ll be my best friend for the rest of my life, or maybe I’ll end up marrying Nick Jonas!”
Cyrus later wrote about Jonas in her 2009 memoir Miles to Go, and he supposedly inspired her song “7 Things.” There is speculation that his song “Wedding Bells,” meanwhile, is about her.
Dylan Sprouse (2006)
Remember when Cyrus dated Dylan Sprouse? Neither do we, but according to the Suite Life of Zack & Cody actor, he and his fellow Disney Channel star were in a daylong romance after meeting on her Hannah Montana set. He talked about that day on Jimmy Kimmel Live in 2008. “We met at her set, I believe, and we dated,” Sprouse said, before jokingly adding, “And then Nick Jonas walked by and it was over.”
Tyler Posey
Just two kids with a dream! Cyrus’s first boyfriend ever was actually Teen Wolf and Jane the Virgin star Tyler Posey. Of course, back then, neither one was a big star yet.
The crazy kids were “boyfriend and girlfriend” when she was seven and he was nine, Posey told Entertainment Tonight in 2015. The actor said he and Cyrus met on the set of Billy Ray Cyrus’s show Doc. “We were so damn young,” he recalled. “I would get excited when we would hold hands.” He added that Cyrus was his first kiss.
Rosa Sanchez is the senior news editor at Harper’s Bazaar, working on news as it relates to entertainment, fashion, and culture. Previously, she was a news editor at ABC News and, prior to that, a managing editor of celebrity news at American Media. She has also written features for Rolling Stone, Teen Vogue, Forbes, and The Hollywood Reporter, among other outlets.
