Billy Ray Cyrus’s Australian wife Firerose was secretly married to an American actor before she met the Achy Breaky Heart star, her parents have revealed – but only her close pals and family knew.
The country music singer wed struggling actor David Schoen Hodges years ago after she swapped Australia for a new life in the US, long before she met Cyrus, 62.
But even her own parents didn’t go to the wedding ceremony.
She and Hodges are believed to have first met in Los Angeles, when Firerose set up home in America as she tried to establish herself as an actress before moving into music.
The pair later split up, although they still follow each other on social media. He is now remarried with a child, and boasts an extensive list of minor film roles.
Firerose, 37, originally started life as Johanna Rosie Scholem and grew up the middle child of three daughter in a suburban Jewish family home in Sydney’s wealthy north.
She once bragged she came from ‘a family of symphony musicians’, and her mother Debbie was a professional violinist but her father Stephen is a retired GP doctor.
Her parents have now broken their silence and told Daily Mail Australia how they lost contact with their daughter after she moved overseas to reinvent herself as Firerose.
Billy Ray Cyrus’ Australian wife Firerose (pictured together) was secretly married to an American actor before she met the Achy Breaky Heart star but only close pals and family knew
Actor David Schoen Hodges married Firerose prior to her meeting Billy Ray Cyrus
Firerose (second left) is the middle child of three daughters to Debbie and Stephen Scholem
‘We have nothing to hide…but we’ve had to ask ourselves whether we want to get involved,’ her mother told Daily Mail Australia.
‘I think of Johanna as a bird that flew away. I often think of her when I’m on the verandah feeding the lorikeets.’
She said they were introduced to first husband Hodges before the couple got hitched, and were invited to the wedding but didn’t attend because of the family rift.
‘We met him, he was a nice man but we didn’t go to the wedding,’ said Ms Scholem.
Her father admitted: ‘We’re essentially estranged.’
Former pals revealed Firerose had a reputation as a party girl when she was growing up as a teenage student at Sydney’s Newtown High School of the Performing Arts.
‘Firerose was always an issue for the family, a real wild child, partying all the time,’ one family friend told Daily Mail Australia.
After she married Hodges, she took his surname as Johanna Hodges before she later reinvented herself as country singer Firerose.
Her mother added: ‘We were happy she kept her first married name because that’s kept us out of the loop – until now.’
After she became Firerose, she released a series of flop singles before Billy Ray Cyrus took her under his wing in 2021 to release her track, New Day.
At the time, she described him as her ‘long-time pal and mentor’ but the relationship blossomed and soon became romantic until the couple eventually wed last October.
But her second marriage lasted just seven months and Cyrus filed for divorce in May after he exploded with anger when he found out about her first marriage.
Shocking new audio of Cyrus lashing out at Firerose was revealed this week where he is heard calling her a ‘selfish f***ing b***h’ and a ‘f***ing idiot’.
Daily Mail Australia played the harrowing exchange to her parents who admitted they knew nothing of her life with Cyrus.
The couple say they’ve only learnt about her arrest, her US citizenship granted last week and her apparent new-found Christian beliefs through media reports.
‘We don’t know about her life in Tennessee – we don’t know about her relationship with Billy Ray,’ Ms Scholem revealed.
‘The fights between the pair sound pretty distressing from both sides.’
But she added: ‘I imagine there was love between them at some point – why else would they have married?’
Father Stephen Scholem was this week seen pushing his grandchild, Firerose’s niece, in a stroller near his home in Sydney’s north
Firerose’s mother Debbie Scholem told Daily Mail AustralIa: ‘We have nothing to hide but we’ve had to ask ourselves whether we want to get involved.’
Firerose’s first husband was referenced by Cyrus in a recent Instagram post after the audio of his explosive exchange with his former wife was made public.
‘As every day went by, I started realizing something was wrong. And that’s before I knew she was a fraud,’ he wrote.
‘I just knew something wasn’t right. That was before I knew she was David Hodge’s ex-wife. That’s before I knew her parents last name.
‘I had no idea she was arrested for felony residential burglary.’
He added: ‘Everything I thought I knew about her was a lie.
‘See you in court.’
Both singers have made accusations against one another that involve fraud, abuse, and retaliation for a double mastectomy after Cyrus filed for divorce last May.
In return, Firerose alleges Cyrus subjected her to ‘extreme verbal, emotional and psychological abuse’ during their brief marriage.
Miley Cyrus gave a subtle hint about whose side she is on while her parents, Tish Cyrus and Billy Ray Cyrus feud
The shocking audio of Cyrus’s tirade also included a rant at pop star daughter Miley Cyrus, branding her and his former wife and Miley’s mother as a ‘skank’ and ‘liar’.
Hours later, Miley shared a photo of herself embracing her mother Tish, 57, at a recent Gucci party in Los Angeles, as an apparent show of support.
The latest row comes after a judge granted a motion preventing Firerose from using Cyrus’s credit cards after he accused her of making ‘unauthorised charges.’
Last week she officially become a US citizen after living in the country for almost two decades and appeared delighted with her new status.
‘This amazing country’s been my home for 17 years. I couldn’t be more thrilled to become a US citizen!’ she posted on social media.
***
Read more at DailyMail.co.uk