Tish Cyrus is married to her hall pass, Dominic Purcell.
The mother of five opened up about how she ended up marrying the "Prison Break" star in a Feb. 7 appearance on the podcast "Call Her Daddy" with her eldest child, Brandi Cyrus. She described being interested in Purcell for a while, but thought it wasn't possible.
"We were all watching 'Prison Break' ... I would always say Dom’s my hall pass," Cyrus said on the show. "Always. I was like, oh, my gosh, it is so sad that the two of us aren’t — because I was married, whatever. I would joke about it — like, it is heartbreaking that the two of us aren’t going to be a couple because we’re so perfect."
Cyrus' first marriage, to Baxter Neal Helson, began in 1986 and ended in 1989. She remarried in 1993 to Billy Ray Cyrus and they divorced in 2022.
Purcell was previously married to Rebecca Williamson.
Cyrus, president of HopeTown Entertainment, married the "Abandoned" actor in 2023.
"'If you could have anybody, who would it be?'-type thing," Brandi Cyrus said of their previous conversations during her mom's second divorce. "And she's, you know, 'Dominic Purcell.'"
"That was how it happened," Cyrus said. "Truly."
Here's how it all got started for the couple, and how things are going these days.
2016: Dominic Purcell DM'd Tish Cyrus on Instagram
Tish Cyrus said on the podcast "Call Her Daddy" that her first interaction with Purcell was in 2016 on Instagram.
"I had followed him on Instagram and he DM'd me and just said, 'Hey, Tish. I think you're super cool and you're doing such a great job with your family' and blah blah blah blah blah. And I'm like, mmm. Although I didn't see it for a year," she recalled.
Cyrus said she was already familiar with him because she's a big fan of his show "Prison Break," which aired from 2005-2009 and was revived in 2017.
2017: Tish Cyrus realizes Dominic Purcell blocked her on Instagram, according to her
Cyrus said she was in the car with Brandi Cyrus when she "realized" she was no longer following Purcell on Instagram. Her daughter said maybe he doesn't have an account anymore.
"No, he has it," Cyrus responded. The two of them concluded that she had been blocked.
"Had seen he hit me up and blocked me from his Instagram," Cyrus said. "I almost peed my pants because I was like, why am I blocked?"
But Cyrus said she moved on.
"That was 2017 and I didn't ever think about it again," she said.
2020s: Tish Cyrus and Dominic Purcell go on their first date
Cyrus recalled on the podcast a conversation she had with a friend during which she was asked who she would be with if she had her pick. She answered with Purcell's name.
Cyrus said the friend encouraged her to DM him. She did and the message went through because she "got unblocked."
She said she couched her romantic interest in a business opportunity. She signed a production deal with NBCUniversal Television and Streaming in 2021 and later asked Purcell for a meeting to discuss “creating a show” for him, she said. (NBCUniversal is the parent company of TODAY.com.)
Purcell responded "three seconds later," Cyrus said.
"'Yeah, Tish, had a crush on you forever,'" she recalled his message saying. "So, we go to lunch and make out for, like, three hours at a pub in, like, a little hole in the wall. I walked in and touched his arm and said, 'Hey, Dom,' and that was it."
Cyrus said Purcell later told her that he knew her inquiry was never about a show.
"He said, 'I looked at my phone and out loud go, 'It’s on.'"
"The next day, he was just like, 'Yeah, I love you,'" Cyrus said, and she said it back.
"After that, it was just on."
2022: Dominic Purcell proposes with Miley Cyrus' help
On Nov. 25, 2022, the day after Thanksgiving, Purcell popped the question and Cyrus accepted, Vogue reported.
“Dom, along with Miley, planned the entire thing,” she told Vogue in August 2023. “They knew we would all be together as a family and thought it would be the perfect time!”
Two days after getting engaged, Cyrus posted on her Instagram story a photo of her and Purcell, revealing their relationship, E! Online reported. Cyrus used a heart emoji and tagged Purcell in the post.
Cyrus publicly announced her engagement the following April.
2023: Tish Cyrus and Dominic Purcell get married
The couple tied the knot on Aug. 19, 2023.
"8.19.23 married my best friend and it was magical," Cyrus said on Instagram a few days later.
Feb. 4, 2024: They attend the 66th Annual Grammys together
Purcell attended the 2024 Grammys to support his wife and her daughter Miley Cyrus, who performed "Flowers" and ended up winning her first two career Grammys for the song. He showered his wife with praise on Instagram Feb. 4.
"To the hottest woman on earth my stunningly beautiful wife. What would we all do without you," he said.
"Humbled to be around you both. … love u."
Cyrus said on "Call Her Daddy" that she is enjoying her husband and their love.
"I am living my best life and he is yummy," she said. "He just loves me so much."
Feb. 24, 2024: Dominic Purcell is 'just bragging' on Tish Cyrus
Purcell gushed over his wife in a Feb. 24 Instagram post.
"The beautiful boss. The matriarch. Settled me right down. Love you. Couldn’t be more proud of you. Your killing it!" he wrote. "About 20 shows sold with her production company @hopetownentertainment. I mean who does that? Been in the biz long time haven’t seen anything like it. Stoked to have a front row seat. Just bragging on my woman that’s all."
This article was originally published on TODAY.com
