EXCLUSIVE: Radar Reveals the Agony at Center of Tish Cyrus' Divorce From Billy Ray — As He Continues 'Oddball' Liz Hurley Romance
Tish Cyrus has touched on her 'devastating' divorce from Billy Ray.
May 16 2026, Published 1:00 p.m. ET
Tish Cyrus has opened up about the emotional collapse of her nearly three-decade marriage to Billy Ray Cyrus, revealing she was left in "shock mode" by the divorce as the country singer continues his unlikely romance with actress Elizabeth Hurley.
As RadarOnline.com reported, the 58-year-old producer and manager separated from Billy Ray, 64, in April 2022 after 29 years of marriage and two previously abandoned divorce filings.
'It completely Destabilized Her Emotionally'
Tish Cyrus opened up about the emotional collapse of her long-term marriage.
Since then, the former couple has rebuilt their lives separately, with Tish marrying Prison Break actor Dominic Purcell, 56, in Malibu in 2023, while Billy Ray briefly wed singer Firerose before they split in 2024 and later confirmed his relationship with Hurley, 60, on Instagram in 2025.
Sources close to the Cyrus family said the breakup left Tish emotionally shattered despite years of turbulence behind the scenes.
One insider told us, "Tish genuinely believed she and Billy Ray would stay together forever, regardless of the ups and downs. When the marriage finally ended, it completely destabilized her emotionally.
"Seeing Billy Ray move so publicly into new relationships while she was still processing the grief made the situation even harder."
Divorce Left Tish Cyrus In 'Shock Mode'
Tish Cyrus admitted that the end of the relationship blindsided her emotionally.
Appearing on the Dear Chelsea podcast, hosted by comedian Chelsea Handler, Tish admitted the end of the marriage blindsided her emotionally.
She said, "I didn't ever really think I would get a divorce. That was not in the cards at all for me. I was devastated. I'd been married for so long, since I was like 24 years old."
Tish, who shares daughters Miley Cyrus, Noah Cyrus, and Brandi Cyrus, as well as sons Trace Cyrus and Braison Cyrus with Billy Ray, described feeling emotionally numb after the split.
"I was in shock mode. I don't know where I was at," she recalled.
Tish Cyrus on the 'Hardest Part' of Divorce
Tish Cyrus described feeling emotionally numb and in 'shock mode' after the split.
Friends of the family said the separation forced Tish to confront the reality that the version of her marriage she had hoped for no longer existed.
One pal said, "For a long time, Tish was trying to hold onto the idea of what the relationship could become rather than what it had actually turned into. The divorce forced her to finally separate fantasy from reality, and that was incredibly painful for her."
During her podcast appearance, Tish reflected on how difficult it was to move forward emotionally after building an entire adult life around one relationship.
She noted: "For me, it was really having to really make my brain focus on how things had gotten, how things were, instead of how they should be or could be.
"When you have kids with someone, it makes it so much harder, and especially my kids are older, so there was none of the going back and forth having to communicate, which I'm sure is so hard."
Tish added, "I don't know how you take the emotion out of it, or how you change how you feel. But I think you can look at things in that way of, like, you know how it could have been if only this – (that) kind of fantasy, and the fantasy from what is your reality. That was the hardest part for me."
'Prison Break' Star Became Tish Cyrus' 'Dream Guy'
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The producer sent a direct message to Dominic Purcell to initiate their first connection.
Tish also described how a friend encouraged her to pursue Purcell after admitting she had long found the actor attractive from watching Prison Break.
She recalled: "One of my friends just said, 'If you could go out with anyone in the world, like who is your dream guy?'"
The producer said she eventually sent Purcell a direct message after encouragement from her friend, beginning a relationship that culminated in their Malibu wedding the following year, while critics have branded Billy Ray's romance with Hurley an "oddball" coupling.
