‘Who’s on stage, who’s in the mirror?’ From Kylie to Miley and Anna to Hannah

Several name changes took place before the series went into production. The leading character of Miley Stewart was originally named Zoe Stewart but bosses thought that was too similar to Nickelodeon rival ‘Zoey 101’ with Jamie Lynn Spears and changed it to Chloe, and settled on Kylie. But in rehearsals, Billy Ray kept calling his daughter Miley on set out of habit and scriptwriters changed the name for a final time just hours before cameras started rolling on the very first episode.

Similarly, initial names for her pop star alter ego included Alexis Texas, Samantha York and Anna Cabana.