Miley Cyrus Explains to Hailey Bieber Why She Left the Church

Speaking her truth. Miley Cyrus and Hailey Bieber (née Baldwin) had an honest discussion about religion — including what made the singer step away from the church.

Bieber, 23, joined the “Slide Away” singer, 27, on her Bright Minded Instagram Live show on Friday, March 20. Cyrus — who came out as pansexual in 2015 — explained that it was hard for her to be a part of the church when she was learning about her sexuality and watching her friends struggle with their own sexual identities.

“I was also brought up in the church in Tennessee at a time in the ’90s, so it was a less accepting time with all that,” the “Mother’s Daughter” singer said. “I had some gay friends in school. That is the reason why I left my church is that they weren’t being accepted. They were being sent to conversion therapies. And I had a really hard time with that and I had a hard time with me finding my sexuality too. So, I think you now telling me that I’m allowed to redesign my relationship with God as an adult and make it how it feels most accepting to me would make me feel so less turned off by spirituality.”

Bieber, 23, noted that relationship with religion shifted from when she was a child to when she became an adult.

“I think there’s a difference between being raised in church and then being an adult and having your own relationship with God …. I feel like I’ve found my footing with spirituality and faith and church,” the model said. “I’ve found a church community that works for me where I feel supported and loved and accepted.”

Cyrus added that she never considered that she could still have a strong relationship with her spirituality, while also moving past her childhood struggles with religion.

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“I was raised going to church as a believer, and that was a really important part of my life. And I kind of fell off that path a little bit because I think I had a hard time finding a relationship with God that worked for me as an adult,” Cyrus told Bieber. “I think what I just took away from you is I’m allowed to decide what my relationship is with spirituality as an adult … that doesn’t have to be aligned with the way it was when I was brought up.”

Bieber, for her part, has frequently been open about her faith in the past. The Drop the Mic cohost — who wed Justin Bieber in September 2018 — is a longtime member of the evangelical Christian megachurch, Hillsong, along with her husband, 26.

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