Miley Cyrus has written a nostalgic letter to her alter ego Hannah Montana, to mark the 15th anniversary of the Disney Channel show where she made her name. Beginning in March 2006, when the singer was just 13 years old, Hannah Montana ran for five years, a time she reflects on in the handwritten note.

“Although you are considered to be an ‘alter ego’ in reality there was a time in my life when you held more of my identity in your glovette than I did in my bare hands,” writes Cyrus, who starred as ordinary teenager Miley Stewart and her pop star counterpart.

She goes on to note that the show existed alongside several major milestones in her life, including the death of her grandfather, “falling in love for the first time”, and starting her period on set. “You and I have been through it all together my friend,” she adds. “We’ve shared many firsts. A lot of lasts. Ups. Downs. Tears and laughs.”

In the second page of the letter, Cyrus recalls the “bittersweet” realisation that she had to leave the character behind, and expresses her gratitude for the experience, writing: “I am indebted not only to you Hannah but to any and everyone who believed in me from the beginning.”

Earlier this month, Miley Cyrus also joined rapper (and potential collaborator) Lil Nas X in a Hannah Montana TikTok parody, which saw the pair joke about the show’s dramatic reveals. Late last year, meanwhile, she celebrated the tenth anniversary of the teenage bong-smoking video that caused mass controversy when she was 18 and fresh from her role as the onscreen pop star.

Read Cyrus’s letter to Hannah Montana below.