NEED TO KNOW
Miley Cyrus is opening up about her engagement to her musician fiancé, Maxx Morando.
Shortly after news broke that the pair are engaged, the “Flowers” singer, 33, spoke to PEOPLE while promoting the forthcoming film Avatar: Fire and Ash, whose soundtrack features her song “Dream as One.”
Asked about her engagement, she shared what has “astounded” her about taking this next step in her relationship with Morando, 27, who plays drums for the band Liily.
“The detail that I can share is that for us, our privacy and us kind of keeping it small has been something that I’ve been astounded that I’ve actually been able to have and being able to kind of have more choice,” she says.
“I think it’s also being older, being more protective of what I’m open to sharing,” she adds.
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Connecting their relationship to Avatar’s themes, Cyrus tells PEOPLE the movie is “about love, family resilience and kind of reconnection and that stronger together idea.”
The three-time Grammy winner explains, “And so I thought it was kind of perfectly thematic and aligned with where I am in my life now.”
Cyrus and Morando’s engagement news comes after the couple stepped out to the Los Angeles premiere of the latest Avatar: Fire and Ash on Monday, Dec. 1. As they posed for photos together on the red carpet, Cyrus could be seen wearing a glittery ring on that finger.
The Hannah Montana alum was first spotted wearing the ring around mid-November, according to Deux Moi. The ring also made an appearance in photos Cyrus shared on Instagram on Nov. 23 from her 33rd birthday dinner with friends, which showed her blowing out a candle on her cake.
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Francesca Simons of Francesca Simons Consulting, a rep for jewelry designer Jacquie Aiche, confirmed to PEOPLE that Aiche made Cyrus’ “bespoke” ring, which features a cushion-cut stone set on a chunky, 14-karat yellow gold band.
Jewelry experts have estimated that the ring could be worth up to $450,000.
Cyrus and Morando were first linked in December 2021. They were photographed cozying up backstage during Cyrus’ NBC holiday special, Miley’s New Year’s Eve Party, in Miami. The two seemingly went public with their romance months later, in April 2022, when they were spotted kissing out in West Hollywood.
Cyrus later revealed in a July 2023 cover story for British Vogue that she and Morando met on a blind date. “Well, it was blind for me and not really for him,” she clarified to the outlet. “I thought, ‘The worst that can happen is I leave.’ ”
Back in September, Cyrus spoke with The Cut about her relationship with her now-fiancé, saying, “I ended up with a person who means a lot to me and treats me really well and respects me.
She gushed of Morando: “My man’s hot as hell.”
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Avatar: Fire and Ash is in theaters Dec. 19.
