Miley Admitted She Lost Herself During Her Relationship With Liam

As of August 2020, it's been exactly a year since Miley Cyrus and Liam Hemsworth split. The news of their separation broke fans' hearts everywhere, wondering what could have possibly went wrong. While the singer initially didn't say much about their breakup when it happened, she's now being more honest about the situation than ever. Miley Cyrus' quote about "losing herself" in her relationship with Liam Hemsworth will surprise fans who were rooting for the two since the beginning.

After Cyrus and Hemsworth met on the set of The Last Song in 2009, they were in an on-and-off relationship for about a decade. Naturally, fans assumed many of Cyrus' love songs were inspired by Hemsworth, but it wasn't until May 2017 that Cyrus confirmed her hit single "Malibu," from her sixth studio album Younger Now, was about him.

At the time, Cyrus said sharing such a personal track was a way for her to take back control surrounding the narrative of their relationship in the media. "They’re going to talk about me if I come out of a restaurant with Liam," Cyrus told Billboard in May 2017. "So why not put the power back in my relationship and say, 'This is how I feel?'"

However, now that Cyrus and Hemsworth are no longer together, she's looking at "Malibu" and her entire Younger Now era differently. Lately, she's been feeling like she wasn't being true to herself at that time in her career.

"When I look at my career, there was really a two year or one year period that doesn’t really make sense. I think you and I probably know that it has to do kind of with that more like Younger Now, kind of ‘Malibu’ era," Cyrus said in an Aug. 20 interview with MTV. "I think what happened in that, which does happen to a lot of people, and it’s not to villainize the partner, but you lose yourself in someone else sometimes."

Although Cyrus didn't mention Hemsworth by name, she admitted she wrote "Malibu" with him in mind, so it's not hard to put two and two together.

Watch Cyrus reflect on her discography below.

Just because Cyrus may not consider Younger Now her favorite era, that won't stop fans from loving the album.