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Was 'Hannah Montana' based on Britney Spears? Miley Cyrus' open letter on 15th anniversary leaves fans in tears

As Cyrus' letter began trending on Twitter, leaving fans emotional, one of Spears' fan accounts on Twitter shared the story of casting Hannah's character

It's been 15 years since Miley Cyrus graced our televisions as Hannah Montanna on the Disney show of the same name. On the occasion of the show's 15th anniversary, the singer wrote an open letter as she reminisced her early years of acting and thanked the role of a pop star and "alter ego".

The singer wrote, "Although you are considered to be an ‘alter ego’, in reality, there was a time in my life when you held more of my identity in your glovette than I did in my bare hands."

She further thanked her on-screen character for playing an important role in shaping her career. "rocket that flew me to the moon + never brought me back down," she noted. While the letter has left fans of the Disney show extremely emotional, a few have shared an interesting detail about a real-life celebrity who inspired the character and it is none other than Britney Spears!

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Was Hannah Montana 'loosely based' on Britney Spears?

Cyrus was seen as the teenager Miley Stewart and her superstar persona Hannah Montana on the Disney show. She starred alongside Emily Osment, Mitchell Musso, Jason Earles and her father Billy Ray Cyrus. On the occasion of the show's 15th anniversary, some fans on Twitter have claimed that Cyrus' character was created with Britney Spears in mind.

As Cyrus' letter began trending on Twitter, leaving fans emotional, one of Spears' fan accounts on Twitter shared the story of casting Hannah's character. The tweet claimed that "Disney Channel Executives revealed that the persona and main character from Hannah Montana was based off of Britney Spears!"

The post consisted of an alleged statement made by the show creator, talking about different elements associated with Miley's on-screen character. It stated, "I knew that Disney Channel had this new show called Hannah Montana and I heard it was on their books for a while, but they couldn't find the right person. Then when Miley came in, it was like, boom, this is it."

"Gary Marsh and Steve Vincent had told me that it was a very music-driven show and that they needed a sound for it. They had a lot of different directions in mind: There were a few executives that said 'Britney Spears' and then there were a few people who were like, 'Let's go rock,' and then someone said, 'Well, the girl that we cast, Miley Cyrus, is from Nashville, so let's do some country'."

'Can't comprehend it's 15 years'

Meanwhile, Cyrus' letter has gotten her fans absolutely nostalgic as they remember the hit Disney show on its 15th anniversary. One tweeted, "my brain can’t comprehend it’s the 15 year anniversary of hannah montana like i still feel like a child how has it been 15 years" Another added, "can someone explain to me why @MileyCyrus‘ letter to Hannah Montana and the flowers she is sending to everyone in the crew is making me cry??"

One wrote, "it's really been 15 years since hannah montana aired omfg. i feel so old and i remember all the lyrics to every song" Another wrote, "Hannah Montana” sent flowers to the Ppl involved in the show for the 15th anniversary im gonna cry real tears now"

'Hannah Montana' was created by Michael Poryes, Rich Correll and Barry O'Brien and aired on Disney between 2006 and 2011. The teen sitcom completed four successful seasons before exiting television.