As former child star Miley Cyrus celebrates her milestone birthday, we take a look back at her most controversial moments including twerking at the VMAs and getting engaged at 19

Miley Cyrus has been involved in a whole host of controversial moments over the years after rocketing to fame on the Disney Channel at just 13 years old.

The Wrecking Ball hitmaker is now celebrating her 30th birthday after going through a number of changes since she starred as the adorable PG pop princess Hannah Montana.

Miley has worked to create an edgy image for herself and overcame just about every scandal a star could face in the process, from drug use, a failed marriage and some seriously risqué outfit choices.

Here, we take a look back at some of her wildest moments throughout the years.

Ditching her child star image

In an attempt to bid good riddance to her sweet Disney star image, Miley braved the chop and decided to cut off her luscious locks in 2012.

To add to her partially shaved grunge pixie cut, the actress decided to dye her hair blonde, saying at the time that she had “never felt more me”.

In an MTV documentary, Miley added: “I had this whole new attitude. I felt like I could finally be the bad b***h that I really am.”

And cutting her hair isn’t the only thing Miley has done to get away from her childhood squeaky clean image, as she’s opted for some very revealing red carpet looks over the years.

Promoted Stories

Back in 2015, she hosted the MTV Video Music Awards and set tongues wagging as she stepped out in a barely-there playsuit.

Miley caused a stir on the red carpet wearing a near-naked sparkly ensemble which showed off her dreamcatcher tattoo and left very little to the imagination. She paired her outfit with thigh-high silver boots and a dramatic makeup look.

Miley also wore her hair in a high ponytail and opted for a pair of chunky silver earrings.

Shock marriage

Miley shocked fans when she became engaged to her The Last Song co-star Liam Hemsworth at just 19 years old, as she described her life as “beautiful”.

The couple went on to have an on-and-off relationship and ended their engagement a year after they announced it in 2013.

They rekindled their relationship in March 2016 and became re-engaged that October. The pair married in a private ceremony at their home in Nashville in 2018.

Sadly, Liam and Miley announced their separation in 2019 and their divorce was finalised the following year.

Robin Thicke twerk-off

One of the rumoured reasons for Miley’s first split from Liam was her jaw-dropping and controversial performance at the 2013 VMAs alongside Robin Thicke.

The two singers joined forces as they performed Blurred Lines, while Miley grinded on a giant foam finger and twerked against her fellow performer.

She had her tongue hanging out for the entire performance and wore nothing but nude-coloured skin-tight hot pants and a crop top.

Cheating allegations

Throughout her career, Miley has been open about her sexuality and came out as pansexual to her mum at the age of 14. She said she never wants to “label myself” and is “ready to love anyone that loves me for who I am”.

One day after announcing her split from Liam, Miley was spotted kissing Kaitlynn Carter and rumours began swirling that she had cheated on her husband with the blogger.

In a lengthy Twitter statement, Miley vehemently denied the accusations.

“I can admit to a lot of things but I refuse to admit that my marriage ended because of cheating. Liam and I have been together for a decade. I’ve said it before & it remains true, I love Liam and always will,” she wrote.

Kaitlynn and Miley started dating in August 2019 but split just one month later.

Miley decided to take aim at rap artist Nicki Minaj and called her “not nice” following her public feud with Taylor Swift.

Not willing to take it lying down, Nicki called the Disney star out on stage during the 2015 VMAs as she accepted an award for her hit Anaconda.

“Back to this b***h that had a lot to say about me the other day in the press. Miley, what’s good,” Nicki said as she became aggressive towards Miley.

Miley tried to coolly brush off the criticism by saying: “We’re all in this industry, we all do interviews and we all know how they manipulate.”

Miley’s twerking obsession was just the beginning. After shocking people with her Robin Thicke dance, she released her scandalous music video for the hit song Wrecking Ball.

In the attention-grabbing video, not only did she lick a sledgehammer in a seductive manner, Miley swung on a wrecking ball while wearing nothing except for a pair of brown boots.

In other parts, she could be seen lying around a construction site wearing lingerie.