The Manifestation Trick Miley Cyrus Stole From Dolly Parton To Make Her ‘Hannah Montana’ 20th-Anniversary Special A Reality
DFree | ShutterstockNearly two decades since "Hannah Montana" premiered on Disney Channel, Miley Cyrus is bringing it back for a 20th anniversary special. While fans are ecstatic over the news, it turns out Dolly Parton had a bigger role in manifesting the long-awaited return.
In a conversation with Variety, Cyrus spoke about the conception of the special, which is set to air at the end of March, and credited her godmother, Dolly Parton, for teaching her a specific manifestation hack that she said was part of the reason the project got the green light.
Dolly Parton taught Miley Cyrus to promote something before it even exists.
For the past year, Cyrus has been teasing something massive for the 20th anniversary of the Disney Channel show that launched her career. However, when Cyrus first started talking about it, there were no formal plans for a special in the first place.
"I learned this terrible habit — but I actually think it was good advice — from Dolly," Cyrus recently told Variety. "She told me that if you want something to happen, promote it before it exists. Then no one can say no."
Cyrus confessed, "So I just started promoting a 'Hannah Montana' 20th anniversary special that literally did not exist." After teasing the possibility of the anniversary special and getting fans interested, Cyrus said she let the hype build before eventually reaching out to Disney to show them the fans' interest, saying, "I’m telling you, this would be huge."
Charlie Andrews, Disney's EVP of live action, Disney Branded Television, confirmed Cyrus's story, insisting, "She willed it into existence." Cyrus actually started to tease the project in June 2025, telling SiriusXM’s TikTok Radio that she wanted to design "something really, really special" to celebrate. Actual planning for the anniversary began six months later. Andrews said it became a "mad dash" for Disney to bring Cyrus' vision to life.
There's power in being able to manifest things into your life.
Cyrus's example of using manifestation to bring her Disney special to life really shows how much mindset can truly shape our reality. Instead of waiting around, Cyrus simply leaned into the idea of talking about the special as if it already existed, and that was enough to spark curiosity and excitement, eventually getting it off the ground.
James Doty, a manifestation expert and neuroscientist, explained that manifestation is not only a tool to achieve what we want, but also fundamentally about being selfless and caring for others to activate our deep inner happiness.
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"One of the problems with the law of attraction oftentimes is that, oh, it didn’t happen, it’s your fault. You did not put the positive energy out there. What we’re talking about is how the brain works, which is the controller of everything, in terms of us," Doty explained.
He admitted, "There’s some people who read about manifestation, they go, I expected this to happen exactly as I envisioned it. It didn’t happen. Or, it didn’t happen at all. Well, there are no guarantees here. But there are other external circumstances that impact, and it may be that you are not aware of certain things that are impeding your progress, or there are other larger things that are having an effect."
There's power behind speaking things into existence. But manifestation doesn't always guarantee instant results either. Just like anything else, work needs to be put into whatever idea you're trying to bring to life.
Nia Tipton is a staff writer with a bachelor’s degree in creative writing and journalism who covers news and lifestyle topics that focus on psychology, relationships, and the human experience.
