Billy Ray Cyrus announces engagement to 34-year-old singer Firerose: ‘She’s the real deal’

Billy Ray Cyrus has announced that he’s engaged to 34-year-old Australian singer, Firerose.

The 61-year-old singer confirmed the news and opened up about his relationship during a recent interview with People. Firerose shared that Cyrus proposed to her in August, noting that he didn’t get down on one knee to do it and she didn’t pick out her ring until later.

“Billy looked at me and said: ‘Do you, do you wanna marry me?’ And I was just like, ‘Of course I do. I love you,’” she explained. “He said: ‘I love you. I wanna make this official. I wanna be with you forever.’”

After praising Firerose’s music career and calling her “the real deal,” Cyrus went on to recall how his German Shepherd, Tex, introduced him to his now-fiancée, while on the set of his show, Hannah Montana, which he starred in with daughter Miley Cyrus, in Los Angeles.

“There’s a couple old pine trees on the lot that look like Tennessee,” the actor explained. “Tex and I would go out there in the middle of the day and he’d take care of his business and we’d stretch and I’d think how much I missed Tennessee. On that given day, Firerose came out of the front door. There was almost a moment of, I don’t know, recognition. I was like: ‘This girl’s a star.’”

Although Cyrus said that he didn’t really know who Firerose was, at the time, the singer expressed that she knew of and admired him.

“Growing up in Australia, my love of music was predominant over everything,” she said “I’ve known his music since forever.”

The pair noted that when Firerose had an audition and did not get the job back when they first met, Cyrus invited her to meet some of the people who worked on his Disney series.

“And I actually said to her: ‘Don’t ever take a strange man up on this offer, but, in this case, Tex will testify that you will be totally safe. I’m going to introduce you to a producer and you can kind of make yourself at home and watch us rehearse and you know, maybe it might lead to a role or just another contact at Disney,’” the “Old Town Road” singer explained.

“And so, off me and her and Tex went back to the studio and I think she met a lot of the cast and met the producers, writers,” he continued. “And, in some ways, well, in a lot of ways, we became friends.”

The duo stayed in touch over the years. Firerose said that their “friendship was so solid”. Cyrus also noted that they “began sharing music, and it just evolved”. They released their first song, “New Day”, together in July 2021.

Regarding how their connection developed, Firerose added: “Billy confided in me a lot of what was going on in his life. I was just the best friend I could possibly be, supporting him.”

During the interview, Cyrus shared that he and his wife of 30 years, Tish Cyrus, had divorced in April and that moving on after the split “took a lot of prayer”.

“There was sickness and death, and hard times,” he said about his life throughout the pandemic. “All of the sudden, the life that I’ve always known as a touring artist didn’t exist anymore. A moment of so much change.”

He went on to praise Firerose for helping him through a difficult 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 again,” Cyrus said.

The engagement news comes months after Tish filed for divorce from Cyrus. The pair, who married in 1993, share five children: Brandi, 34, Trace, 33, Miley, 29, Braison, 27, and Noah, 22.

During his interview with People, the “Achy Breaky Heart” singer said that there was no bad blood between him and his ex-wife, explaining: “Everyone knew that that relationship was over a long time ago. Everybody’s turning the page. It’s been a lot, but everyone knew that it was time for a change.”