Originally appeared on E! Online
Billy Ray Cyrus seems to have a new queen of his heart: Elizabeth Hurley.
The “Achy Breaky Heart” singer, 63, and The Royals star, 59, debuted their romance on Instagram April 20. In their joint post, a bunny-ear-sporting Billy Ray could be seen planting a kiss on Elizabeth’s cheek as she smiled at him and wished their followers a happy Easter.
And while they haven’t shared yet how they hopped into this coupling, the pair have history—both starring in the 2022 holiday movie Christmas in Paradise. And you could argue they’ve been dropping Easter eggs about their relationship status for weeks.
Take, for instance, Billy Ray congratulating “Elizabeth Bikini Goddess Hurley” on her Beauty Idol Award April 12 or him wishing her son Damian Hurley (his dad is her late ex Steve Bing) a happy 23rd birthday April 4. And when the Grammy winner teased new music in an April 8 Instagram post, the Austin Powers actress celebrated by dropping a heart emoji in the comments. (E! News reached out to their reps for comment on where they stand).
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Billy Ray and Elizabeth’s Instagram debut comes eight months after he settled his divorce from Firerose. The “Busy Man” musician and the Australian “After the Storm” singer wed in October 2023 but broke up less than a year later in a contentious split—with him accusing her of being a “fraud” who used the “Cyrus name for her own gain” and them both alleging abuse (they each denied the other’s allegations).
Instagram / Elizabeth Hurley / Billy Ray Cyrus
“This has been absolutely the most crazy insane scam I have ever heard of,” Billy Ray said in an August statement to E! News. “Let alone the fact I’m right in the center and basically the target of the scheme. It’s unfortunate it played out this way. Not only was it a web of lies that put me in physical danger, it was a matter of the heart. Love is blind, that’s for sure.”
As for Firerose, a source close to her told E! she wanted to settle because it was “important to her that this continuous smear campaign end, and the emotional turmoil stop so she can close the door on this chapter.”
And Billy Ray has shut a few other doors throughout his decades of dating. Prior to his relationship with Firerose, Billy Ray was married to Tish Cyrus for almost 30 years. Together, they welcomed kids Miley Cyrus, 32, Braison Cyrus, 30, and Noah Cyrus, 25, and he adopted her children Brandi Cyrus, 37, and Trace Cyrus, 36, from a previous relationship. Their brood also included his son Christopher Cyrus, 33, whose mother is Kristin Luckey.
But after nearly three decades of marriage—which included filing for divorce in 2010 and 2013 only to later reconcile—Billy Ray and Tish split for good in 2022.
“I never wanted to be divorced,” the podcaster, now married to Dominic Purcell, said on a November episode of Kate Hudson and Oliver Hudson’s podcast Sibling Revelry. “My mom and dad met on a Monday, got married on a Friday and were together until my dad passed away—great childhood, best example of a marriage you could ever imagine. And also, just for us, you’re in the public eye. The world that we exist in is already so odd and sometimes unstable, I wanted to make it work probably for a little too long for my own mental health….There became a point I didn’t have a choice.”
However, Billy Ray’s marriage to Tish wasn’t the first time he’d tied the knot.
He detailed meeting Cindy Cyrus—who cowrote his songs “Wher’m I Gonna Live?” and “Some Gave All”—at a bar in his 2013 memoir Hillbilly Heart.
“The first night I remember seeing Cindy, she was wearing a small halter top and very short shorts,” he recalled. “It was probably twelve fifteen on a Friday or Saturday, and with her sweet little face, greenish blue eyes and that outfit, Cindy stood out among the crowd on a packed dance floor.”
The two wed in 1986 after just a few months of knowing each other. However, Billy Ray wrote that their marriage became “more of a party than a traditional partnership” and that there were “entanglements,” including his relationship with Kari Reeves (the daughter of country music singer Del Reeves).
In 1991, Cindy filed for divorce. “There were no hard feelings,” Billy Ray wrote. “Both of us recognized our marriage was a relic from another time.”
As for Elizabeth’s dating history, her exes include actor Hugh Grant, basketball player-turned coach Steve Nash, businessman Arun Nayar (the pair were married from 2007 to 2011) and late cricketer Shane Warne (who became her fiancé in 2011 before they called off their engagement two years later).
And while you can tell our hearts every last detail of this latest coupling, it’s not the only reason that Billy Ray has made headlines lately with much speculation devoted to his rumored rifts with some of his children.
And if you just don’t think you understand what’s going on, we’ve detailed every branch of his famed family tree.
How the Cyrus Family Started
Billy Ray Cyrus married Tish Cyrus (née Leticia Finley) on Dec. 28, 2003.
At the time they already shared 12-month-old daughter Destiny Hope Cyrus—you may know her as Miley Cyrus—and Tish was pregnant with their son Braison Cyrus, who was born May 9, 1994.
Seven months before Miley was born on Nov. 23, 1992, Billy Ray’s ex-girlfriend Kristin Luckey gave birth to their son Christopher Cody Cyrus on April 8.
When the “Achy Breaky Heart” singer married Tish, he adopted her daughter Brandi Cyrus (born May 26, 1987) and son Trace Cyrus (Feb. 24, 1989), whose biological father is their mom’s ex-husband Baxter Helson.
Trish and Billy Ray’s youngest, daughter Noah Cyrus, was born Jan. 8, 2000.
Father-Daughter Stardom
From 2006 to 2010, Billy Ray played the father of Miley’s normal-kid-who-moonlights-as-a-pop-star character in the Disney Channel sitcom Hannah Montana and a 2009 film adaptation.
While the Cyrus family was still based in Nashville, Billy Ray and Miley made the move to L.A. to jumpstart her own entertainment career.
Where There’s Smoke…
Billy Ray and Tish announced in October 2010 that they were getting divorced, but by the following year were back together.
They filed for divorce again in June 2013 but reconsidered barely a month later, telling E! News at the time that they’d been to couple’s counseling and it had done wonders for them.
But before they reconciled, when the news broke that her dad had made the first move in a Nashville court to end his marriage after 19 years, Miley tweeted, “@billyraycyrus since your text and email obviously aren’t working would you like to talk like this?”
Miley Starts Over
After starring in 2010’s The Last Song together and dating off and on for a decade, Miley and Liam Hemsworth married in December 2018, not long after their Malibu home burned down.
The decision came “from a place of trauma and just trying to rebuild as quickly as we could,” Miley recalled on her “Used to Be Young” TikTok series.
But Liam filed for divorce in August 2019 and they finalized the paperwork in January 2020.
“It’s honestly very simple,” a source told E! at the time. “They fell in love when they were young and they are just different people now.”
The Family Tree Keeps Growing
Braison and his wife Stella Cyrus welcomed son Bear Chance Cyrus on June 8.
Billy Ray and Tish Split Up for Good
Tish filed for divorce fo a third time in April 2022, and this time it stuck.
Moreover, her petition citing “irreconcilable differences” noted that she and her husband of almost 30 years hadn’t lived together since February 2020.
“It is after 30 years, five amazing children and a lifetime of memories, we have decided to go our separate ways—not with sadness, but with love in our hearts,” Tish and Billy Ray told People in a statement. “We have grown up together, raised a family we can be so proud of, and it is now time to create our own paths.”
The exes noted that they hadn’t come to the decision to split up for good “lightly or quickly,” adding, “We will always be family and look forward to a continued and loving shared experience as friends and parents.”
Billy Ray Moves on With Firerose
Billy Ray quietly got engaged to Australian singer Firerose, who’s 27 years his junior, in August 2022 but waited to confirm the news until that November.
“Growing up in Australia, my love of music was predominant over everything,” Firerose told People. “I’ve known his music since forever.”
What started as a friendship turned into more during the darkest days of the COVID-19 pandemic.
“All of the sudden, the life that I’ve always known as a touring artist didn’t exist anymore,” Billy Ray said. “A moment of so much change. And at the same time, Firerose, who had been such a light of positivity, such a best friend. And then when we began sharing the music, it just evolved more into, as musical soulmates, to soulmates, happy, pure love that to me, I didn’t know could exist.”
Tish Finds Love With Dominic Purcell
Around the time her ex-husband confirmed his engagment in November 2022, Tish went Instagram-official with Prison Break actor Dominic Purcell.
They got engaged in April 2023 and tied the knot that August in Malibu at sunset with Miley, Trace and Brandi all standing by their mom’s side.
“Life is unpredictable & always full of changes,” Trace captioned a photo of himself and two of his sibling with the bride. “I think the most important thing to do is cherish the past, look forward to the future, & always be happy in the present moment because that’s really all we have.”
Miley Weighs in on Her Mom’s Love Life
“To see my mom this happy and in love is very emotional for me,” Miley told Vogue ahead of her mom’s wedding. “Dom and my mom share the sweetest, most genuine love. It’s almost like it’s for the first time, which is so fitting for my mom who is such a young soul.”
As for her dad’s next chapter, however, a source close to Miley told E! News in October 2022 that she wasn’t in love with it and didn’t have a relationship with her future stepmom.
“The divorce between her parents put a strain on her relationship with her dad and it’s been hard to connect with him in the last year,” the source said. “She hopes they can eventually work on their relationship.”
Billy Ray told People that November, however, that his family had “no hard feelings” about his engagement.
“Everybody’s turning the page,” he said. “It’s been a lot, but everyone knew that it was time for a change.”
He and Firerose got married on Oct. 10, 2023, calling it the “beautiful, joyous day that our two souls united as one in holy matrimony.”
Only Some of Miley’s Family Get Their Flowers
Whatever rift opened up between Miley and her dad apparently hadn’t been repaired by the night of the 2024 Grammys on Feb. 4.
Tish and Brandi were there, as was Miley’s boyfriend Maxx Morando, and they all got shout-outs when the “Flowers” singer won Record of the Year.
As Miley concluded her speech, “I don’t think I forgot anyone.”
Wait, What?
None of the three officially confirmed or denied eyebrow-raising reports that Noah was involved with Dominic before her mother was, but the Grammy-nominated singer had some choice words for an Instagram commenter in April 2024 after the person crudely suggested that Noah and Tish both had “sexy time” with the actor.
“I’m so sorry but will you pleeeeeass just choke on the fattest c–k,” Noah wrote in response. “Just for a lil bit. Great thanks.”
Billy Ray Moves on From Firerose
Barely eight months after they tied the knot, Billy Ray filed to annul the union, alleging in court documents the marriage was “obtained by fraud.”
He listed May 22, 2024, as their date of separation.
However, Billy Ray amended his plan and filed for divorce, which was settled that August.
“This has been absolutely the most crazy insane scam I have ever heard of,” Billy Ray said in a statement to E! News. “Let alone the fact I’m right in the center and basically the target of the scheme. It’s unfortunate it played out this way.”
Trace’s Public Plea to Dad Billy Ray
“Since my earliest memories all I can remember is being obsessed with you and thinking you were the coolest person ever,” Trace began a Jan. 22, 2025, Instagram post directed at his father. “I wanted to be just like you. The day you adopted me was the happiest day of my life. Sadly the man that I wanted so desperately to be just like I barely recognize now.”
Referring to his sisters, he continued, “Me and the girls have been genuinely worried about you for years but you’ve pushed all of us away.”
Noah was especially hurt, according to Trace.
“Noah desperately has wanted you to be a part of her life and you haven’t even been there for her,” he wrote. “That’s your baby girl. She deserves better. Somehow just like me she still idolizes you though. We are all hanging on to memories of the man we once knew & hoping for the day he returns.”
Billy Ray Breaks Silence on Family Rift
After his son Trace said he and his sisters—including Miley, Brandi and Noah—were worried about Billy Ray, the country music star wrote in the caption of a YouTube Shorts post on Jan. 26, 2025. “Praying for my family. For my children … sons and daughters…and their mother.”
On the Mend?
In March 2025, Billy Ray seemed to signal that his bond with his kids was improving as he shared a touching tribute to Miley and Noah in honor of their latest music projects.
“Flesh and blood … completely taking their art to a whole new level. Congratulations girls,” he wrote on Instagram at the time. “I’m so damn proud of both of you. I’m actually crying as I write this. Thank God you can’t see me.”
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