Miley Cyrus nearly lost ‘Hannah Montana’ role to fellow child star

Miley Cyrus wasn’t the only child star who could’ve experienced “The Best of Both Worlds.”

“Hannah Montana” casting director Lisa London corrected a TikToker who wrongfully declared that the Spanish-Mexican singer Belinda — who had a starring role in “Cheetah Girls 2” — was among the final three candidates for the lead role in the hit Disney Channel series.

“I wanted to let everybody know that Belinda — who’s lovely, by the way — was never in the top three for the role of Hannah,” London clarified after stating that she had “discovered” Cyrus.

“These are the final three actresses that auditioned at the network test out of over 1,200 girls,” London continued, sharing a piece of paper — dated May 6, 2005 — that listed Taylor Momsen and Daniella Monet alongside Cyrus as the remaining contenders.

The show, which ran on the squeaky-clean network from 2006 to 2011, followed the adventures and conflicts of the everyday teen Miley Stewart (Cyrus), who also lived a secret life as a global pop star.

London also noted that Cyrus’ character was originally named Chloe during casting until the “Wrecking Ball” singer officially landed the career-launching role.

However, things eventually worked out for Momsen as she would go on to star as Jenny Humphrey in “Gossip Girl” starting in 2007. Nowadays, the 29-year-old stays busy with her band, The Pretty Reckless.

Years prior, Momsen played Cindy Lou Who in Jim Carrey’s “How the Grinch Stole Christmas.”

In a 2010 interview, Momsen admitted she wasn’t too upset about losing out on the Disney role.

“Honestly, if I’d have ended up as Hannah Montana, I don’t know if the show would have gone as well. I probably would have told them all to go f–k themselves by the time I hit 11,” she said.

Meanwhile, Monet landed a spot on Nickelodeon’s “Victorious” in 2010, playing Victoria Justice’s kooky sister, Trina Vega.

Monet’s character provided some of the show’s most quotable moments, including her chaotic one-woman performance of “Chicago.”

Now a mom of two, her most recent acting credit was the 2020 independent film “Aloha Surf Hotel.”

Examples of Nickelodeon’s “sexualization” of Monet’s castmate, Ariana Grande, have recently resurfaced after the network’s fellow star Jennette McCurdy revealed allegations of abusive behavior in her new memoir by someone she only referred to as the “Creator.”

Dan Schneider created many of Nickelodeon’s top shows — including “Victorious,” “Drake & Josh,” “Zoey 101,” “iCarly” and “Sam & Cat” — but left the network in 2018 after multiple complaints of abusive behavior against him.