January 14, 2008

Hannah Montana Publicist Confirms Body Double Is Being Used On Tour

By Kurt Orzeck (MTV.com)

Every kid knows Miley Cyrus lives a double life as Hannah Montana, but a recent stunt involving an actual body double has fans questioning the wildly popular character's true identity all over again.

A video that has been making the rounds online captures the pop tart onstage at a recent gig on her Best of Both Worlds Tour, shaking it loose with a group of dancers and opening act the Jonas Brothers during a performance of "We Got the Party." The clip shows someone ushering her to the back of the stage, after which she vanishes and a girl who is dressed like Hannah - in the same pink trench coat she wears, with blond hair obscuring her face - dances, dashes up the stage set and lip-syncs the rest of the song. According to The Associated Press, Cyrus was taken offstage through a trap door.

On Friday (January 11), Cyrus' publicist confirmed that not only was the video legit, but that the body double is actually being used throughout the tour, according to a statement issued to MTV News. PR group PMK chalked up the switch to a costume change.

"To help speed the transition from Hannah to Miley, there is a production element during the performance of 'We Got the Party' incorporating a body double for Miley," PMK said in the statement.

"After Hannah has completed the featured verse on the duet with the Jonas Brothers, a body double appears approximately one to two minutes prior to the end of the song in order to allow Miley to remove the Hannah wig and costume and transform into Miley for her solo set," the statement continued. "Other than during this very brief transitional moment in the show, Miley performs live during the entirety of both the Hannah and Miley segments of the concert."

This is hardly the only headline to accompany Cyrus' Best of Both Worlds jaunt. Last year, officials in multiple states launched probes surrounding it after fans and their frustrated parents were shut out of tickets. According to Pollstar.com, the lucrative tour - which is slated to continue through the rest of the month - grossed a whopping $36 million last year.