Sweet niblets, can you imagine anyone other than Miley Cyrus playing Hannah Montana? Well, it almost happened.
Cyrus became one of the biggest stars of her generation when she landed the lead role in the Disney Channel series, which premiered in 2006. And the singer had to beat out "over 1200 girls" to play the titular character, according to the series' original casting director Lisa London.
In an Aug. 17 TikTok, London decided to set the record straight about which actresses were in serious contention to play the undercover pop star. And one of them just so happened to go on to star on The CW's Gossip Girl and front her own rock band, getting her own version of the best of both worlds.
Plus, two other Disney darlings went on to reveal they were approached to star as Hannah and her best friend Lilly (ultimately played by Emily Osment), but decided to pass on the opportunity.
Check out all of the other actresses who could have played Hannah Montana:
Two years before she was cast as Little J on Gossip Girl, Momsen was one of the top three finalists to play Hannah Montana, according to casting director Lisa London. Though she was passed on for the role, the actress still went on to have her rock star moment, becoming the lead singer of the band The Pretty Reckless.
London also revealed that Monet was the other actress who was seriously considered for Hannah before Miley Cyrus landed the breakout role. Monet went onto star on Nickelodeon's hit series Victorious alongside Victoria Justice and Ariana Grande.
London felt compelled to set the record straight about who was seriously considered for the part after a TikTok went viral that claimed that the Spanish-Mexican singer Belinda almost nabbed the role
"I discovered Miley Cyrus," London said on Aug. 17. "I wanted to let everyone know that Belinda, who is lovely by the way, was never in the top three for the role of Hannah."
Amanda Joy "AJ" Michalka dropped a bombshell on Disney fans when she revealed that she and her sister Aly Michalka were approached to front Hannah Montana together.
"I adore Lisa London but I have some tea beyond the tea to spill," AJ wrote on Twitter. "[Former Disney Channel president] Gary Marsh originally offered the role of 'Hannah Montana' to Aly and I was offered the role of 'Lilly Truscott.'"
The singer then added, "(I know this so doesn't matter but thought I'd chime in)."
While the sisters didn't end up playing Hannah and Lilly, they did go on to star in the 2006 Disney Channel Original Movie Cow Belles.
Aly, who starred in Phil of the Future, who opened up about almost playing Hannah last year when she was a guest on the Between Cut and Action podcast.
"I was attached to a show that was already on the channel and was just ending," Aly said. "Once I passed, they came back one more time and were like, 'Are you sure? Because we're going to the next person and offer it to another couple people.'"
"I remember being so sure about saying no," she continued. "I was just like, 'I don't want to do this. I don't want to do a show about singing. I don't want to do a show where I play two people...I'm a solo artist, but in my real life I'm actually a duo with my sister. I think this is going to be insanely confusing for people.'"
JoJo said "no no" to playing the Disney Channel character, telling Extra in 2008 she had "no regrets at all" on passing on the role. "It's not really what I see for myself."
Hannah Montana is streaming on Disney+.