Thornton/Mauceri/INFphoto.comUpdate: Just heard back from a Disney rep regarding Miley Cyrus and talk about the end of Hannah Montana.
"Miley said it best when she said she's delighted to be part of the Disney family," the rep wrote in an email. "We start production on the third season of Hannah Montana on August 4 and have an option for a fourth season beyond that. We look forward to the Hannah Montana feature film coming to a theatre near you in Spring 2009."
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Miley Cyrus may be getting ready to say goodbye to Hannah Montana. Or at least she's thinking about it.
The 15-year-old superstar feels the time may be right for her hit Disney Channel series to come to an end.
"We’re thinking this is our last season," Cyrus tells me.
Mickey Mouse execs announced in April that Hannah Montana had been renewed for a third season.
But Cyrus explained in an interview Monday morning that she's been working on the show longer than most people realize. She was 11 when it all began. She turns 16 in November.
"I just think we did a lot of episodes," she says. "We basically did two seasons in one last year. Usually people would do one season that would be, like, 16 episodes, and we did almost 30 episodes!"
Adds Cyrus, "It seems like it's been on, like, longer."
As much as Cyrus may be thinking about parting ways with her alter ego, she insists any talk that she's trying to distance herself from Disney—or what she calls her "family"—is hogwash. "I'm still with my family," she says. "You know, they're safe. They always feel like home. And that's what I love about the company. They are family."
Cyrus' rep also quickly clarifies the starlet's talk about the end of Hannah Montana. "We do not know if this is the last season," the rep says.
There's more about Miley to come. Make sure to read later when I reveal what she has to say about her Sweet 16, going to college and what you should—and should not—expect when she hosts this Sunday's Teen Choice Awards.