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Is this truly the end?
By Nia Tipton — Written on Apr 11, 2022
Country singer Billy Ray Cyrus and wife Tish Cyrus seem to be on the outs again after Tish recently filed for divorce.
This makes it the third time that Billy Ray, 60, and Tish, 54, are making plans to go their separate ways after more than 28 years of marriage.
Why did Billy Ray and Tish Cyrus divorce?
Tish filed for divorce in Williamson County, Tennessee on Wednesday, citing "irreconcilable differences."
She also added that she and Billy Ray haven't lived together for more than two years.
Breakup rumors first started circulating when fans noticed that Billy Ray wasn't present in their annual Christmas family photo. On her Instagram, Tish had posted a snap of her along with all of her children, Brandi, 34, Trace, 32, Miley, 29, Braison, 27, and Noah, 21.
Miley had also posted the same picture on her own Instagram account, where she had posed next to her siblings and mother, and again, no mention of Billy Ray in the caption nor was he tagged in the any of the photos, causing fans to wonder if things were rocky between Billy Ray and Tish.
Billy Ray cheated on Tish in the past.
Many fans theorized if the reason for Tish filing for divorce was related to Billy Ray possibly cheating, especially considering it allegedly isn't the first time.
Just eight months before Miley had been born, Billy Ray had welcomed his first son, Christopher Cody Cyrus, with Kristin Luckey in 1992. According to Mirror, Billy Ray had engaged in a "brief relationship" with Luckey while she worked "as a waitress in South Carolina."
Although Billy Ray never hid his other child from the world, he allegedly didn't have much of a role in Christopher's life.
"Chris reaches out to have a relationship but it's been months since they engaged," his mother told Mirror. "Chris is a great kid and he handles it very, very well. He tried to keep a lot inside but I know when he's hurting and really getting to him. No one acknowledges his birthday or even Christmas for him."
This isn't the first time that Tish and Billy Ray have filed for divorce.
Billy Ray had first filed for divorce against Tish in 2010, but then announced that he was calling off the split five months later while giving an interview on 'The View.'
“I’ve dropped the divorce,” he said. “I want to put my family back together. Things are the best they’ve ever been.”
However, by 2013 things between Billy Ray and Tish had started going south again, and this time, Tish had been the one to file for divorce.
In an interview with People, she shared, "This is a personal matter and we are working to find a resolution that is in the best interest of our family. We ask that you respect our privacy at this time."
The divorce ended up being called off again after the couple revealed that they had managed to salvage their marriage through couples therapy and hard work.
"We both woke up and realized we love each other and decided we want to stay together," the two said in a joint statement in July 2013.
"We both went into couples therapy something we haven't done in 22 years of being together, and it's brought us closer together and really opened up our communication in amazing ways."
Nia Tipton is a writer living in Brooklyn. She covers pop culture, social justice issues, and trending topics. Follow her on Instagram.