Apparently, Aly & AJ Were Almost The Stars Of Hannah Montana

Miley Cyrus had the best of both worlds thanks to Hannah Montana, but in a totally different world, the iconic series could have looked very different. Pop duo and former Disney Channel stars Aly & AJ revealed they were almost cast as the leads of Hannah Montana before Cyrus. Here’s everything you need to know about all the Hannah Montana casting tea being spilled.

On Aug. 22, AJ Michalka tweeted from the official Aly & AJ Twitter account, saying Gary Marsh (the president of Disney Channel at the time) offered Aly the role of Hannah Montana and AJ the role of Hannah’s best friend, Lilly Truscott. She wrote:

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)

Along with the tweet, AJ included a link to an Entertainment Weekly article about how the original series casting director Lisa London put a kibosh on a rumor that Belinda (of Cheetah Girls 2 fame) was one of the top contenders for the role of Hannah. Instead, London revealed that in addition to Cyrus, Taylor Momsen from Gossip Girl and Daniella Monet from Victorious were the finalists for the role. However, Aly & AJ are making sure fans know Aly Michalka turned down the role first.

Aly previously spoke about how she and AJ turned down Hannah Montana in an August 2021 episode of the podcast Between Cut and Action. She said she didn’t want to do a TV show about a singer, especially because she thought it would be “insanely confusing” for fans to see her star as a solo artist on Hannah Montana but be a part of a pop duo in real life. She also explained that at age 16, she was starting to outgrow Disney Channel.

In the end, the role went to Cyrus and Disney history was made. But fans can always sit back and imagine a world where Aly & AJ were the ones to don the famous Hannah Montana wigs.