If, like us, you were a teen who dreamt of a double life á la Hannah Montana; all limos out front, skinny, sparkly scarves, and the literal best of both worlds, you must also have been a super fan of the show. But get this... Miley Cyrus and Emily Osment were not the only contenders to play Miley/Hannah and Lily.
Miley Cyrus was never meant to get the role of Miley Stewart slash Hannah Montana. But that's not news, if you read her teenage autobiography 'Miles to Go' like we did, you'd know that because she was so young, she was never meant to play the lead role in the series.
Remember Aly and AJ Michalka? The 'Cow Belles' sister duo and masterminds (no, seriously) behind the lyric "It took too long for you to call back/and normally I would just forget that/except for the fact it was my birthday, my stupid birthday".
Well, apparently they were offered the roles of Miley/Hannah and Lily before Cyrus and Osment. Gasp. In this plot twist straight out of the late 2000s, Aly & AJ shocked tonnes of fans of the show when they tweeted the intel.
The tweet claims "I adore Lisa London but I have some tea beyond the tea to spill. Gary Marsh originally offered the role of “Hannah Montana” to Aly and I was offered the role of “Lilly Truscott” (I know this so doesn’t matter but thought I’d chime in)".
The tweet was prompted by an article in Entertainment Weekly where Lisa London, the show's original casting director, revealed some of the other famous actors up for the part of Miley/Hannah at the time. She cited Taylor Momson and Daniella Monet.
Last year, Aly made the same claim echoed by her sister yesterday on a podcast called Between Cut and Acton, stating "I at least know that I was the first [person offered the Hannah Montana role] because I was attached to a show that was already on the channel and was just ending. And then I think once I passed, they came back one more time and were like, 'Are you sure? Because we're going to the next person and offer it to another couple people".
Still, we think it worked out for the best; we don't know what we'd do if Miley hadn't been propelled to fame off the back of the series, and we don't want to know.
Do you think Aly would have made a good Miley/Hannah?