It turns out Liam Hemsworth was equally as shocked as we were when a representative for Miley Cyrus announced they’d called time on their decade long relationship.
If you need a little refresher, the statement (which was released on August 10) read: “Liam and Miley have agreed to separate at this time. Ever-evolving, changing as partners and individuals, they have decided this is what’s best while they both focus on themselves and careers,” the statement read. “They still remain dedicated parents to all of their animals they share while lovingly taking this time apart. Please respect their process and privacy.”
Although their separation was reportedly amicable, an insider recently told Page Six that Liam— who was in Australia when the news broke— was “blindsided” by the announcement seeing as the former couple hadn’t decided on when exactly they planned to tell the world. The same source said Liam was intentionally holding off on announcing the news in the hope he could save their “crumbling” marriage.
WATCH: Miley Cyrus performs her new breakup tune, “Slide Away” at the 2019 MTV VMAs
This supports sources from Miley’s camp who claim the “Slide Away” singer was the one to end their eight-month-long marriage. It’s been said that Liam’s alleged “drinking”, “drug use” and excessive partying habits became too much for Miley— who previously struggled with substance abuse.
“Everyone always thinks Miley is problematic and immature and a hardcore partier while he’s this chill surfer dude, but that’s actually [not accurate],” a source previously told PEOPLE. “Liam parties with his friends, and Miley thinks he should’ve grown out of that by now.”
Those close to Liam have since refuted these claims, arguing that they’re trying to take the attention away from “infidelity” on the “Wrecking Ball” singer’s behalf.
The former Disney star later denied these accusations.
“I can accept that the life I’ve chosen means I must live completely open and transparent with my fans who I love, and the public, 100% of the time. What I cannot accept is being told I’m lying to cover up a crime I haven’t committed. I have nothing to hide,” she wrote in a lengthy Twitter rant.
She continued: “But the truth is, once Liam & I reconciled, I meant it, & I was committed. There are NO secrets to uncover here. I’ve learned from every experience in my life. I’m not perfect, I don’t want to be, it’s boring. I’ve grown up in front of you, but the bottom line is, I HAVE GROWN UP. 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.”
Hours after the world learned of their split, photos emerged of Miley kissing her now girlfriend Kaitlynn Carteron a yacht in Italy.
Since the girls’ trip, their relationship has moved at a rapid pace, with Kaitlynn’s former reality TVco-star Spencer Pratt recently admitting the couple had an “emotional” relationship long before Miley and Liam separated. He also inferred they were seeing each other while Kaitlynn was still married to Brody Jenner and they were filming The Hills: New Beginnings as a couple.
“It’s tough for me to listen to Kaitlynn complain about people talking about her allegedly open relationship with Brody when we know she had a thing going with Miley,” he said. “She already had something going on with her when these scenes were filming — maybe not physically, but definitely emotionally,” he said, referring No one’s judging you for whatever it is you and Brody do when he’s not sleeping in his car. We just don’t want people to lie about their lives.”
He continued: “Maybe you shouldn’t have gone on television. It’s called a reality show, hon. And the reality is that Brody’s been talking about your sex life on his podcast for years.”
This article was originally published on WHO