Hannah Montana is turning 20, and Miley Cyrus is celebrating with an hour-long special — with the help of some of her fellow pop stars.
The Hannah Montana 20th Anniversary Special sees Cyrus return to the set of the Disney Channel show that launched her career, reflecting on her wigs, her closet and her early days in Hollywood alongside her mom Tish and dad Billy Ray.
Selena Gomez, who played Hannah Montana’s enemy Mikayla in the series, also stopped by in the special to reminisce. “When I watch it back, I’m like ‘we were vicious,’” Cyrus said, with the two characters throwing insults at each other constantly.
“It’s pretty mean! I don’t think they’d get away with saying half of that now,” Gomez said. “I was so mean, I’m sorry!” Cyrus teased back that “we can make amends now.”
Adding to the star power, Chappell Roan, who grew up watching Hanna Montana, makes a surprise appearance as well, telling Cyrus that “you literally walked so I could run.” Chappell pointed to her own moments confronting photographers on the carpet and how Cyrus paved the way for her.
“I was gagged for that,” Cyrus said, to which Roan replied, “But that’s because you took a lot of the heat for that in 2012, 2013.”
“I don’t have to deal with that as much because the world really took it out on you,” Roan said, harkening back to the response to Cyrus’ album Bangerz and her infamous VMAs performance with Robin Thicke.
“To see you be the artist you are, to be able to do this, just shows like your heart and your appreciation for your younger self and what got you here,” Roan continued.
As Cyrus said: “That’s really what this whole moment, this whole celebration, is about — loving on our younger selves, knowing that my younger me worked so hard so I could have the life that I have now.”
In another moment in the special, Cyrus — who at points throughout is interviewed by Call Her Daddy‘s Alex Cooper — touches on Taylor Swift’s appearance in 2009’s Hannah Montana: The Movie.
Teasing “get the tea kettle,” Cyrus reflected how “this was kind of the beginning of her career and they were looking for someone who would authentically, no shade, I guess, be performing in a barn. We both performed in the barn and so she came and did the performance.” Swift also wrote the movie’s finale song “You’ll Always Find Your Way Back Home,” to which Cyrus declared: “She ate with that one.”
Cyrus takes the stage for several songs during the special as well, doing modern renditions of “Best of Both Worlds,” “This is the Life” and “The Climb.” She closes with a new song dedicated to her time on the show, telling the audience directly to camera that “it’s been an honor to celebrate 20 years with Hannah Montana, and I’ve looked back at every memory with a heart full of love. Hannah, she gave me my start, but my fans gave me this life.”
The Hannah Montana 20th Anniversary Special is now streaming on Disney+ and Hulu.
