Who Was the Runner Up for Hannah Montana? 🎤

For the Disney Channel series _Hannah Montana_ , the two main “runner-ups” for the lead role (which ultimately went to Miley Cyrus) were **Taylor Momsen** and **Daniella Monet**.

They were part of the final three actresses who tested for the role at the network level, out of more than 1,200 girls who auditioned.

Quick Scoop

• Winner of the role: Miley Cyrus as Miley Stewart / Hannah Montana.

• Final three actresses:
  • Miley Cyrus
  • Taylor Momsen (later Jenny Humphrey on Gossip Girl)

* Daniella Monet (later Trina Vega on _Victorious_)

• Casting director’s confirmation: Lisa London (original casting director) publicly shared a call sheet showing these three names as the finalists.

• Belinda rumor clarified: The widely shared rumor that singer Belinda was almost Hannah Montana has been debunked; she was not in the top three.

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Actress	Position in Casting	What She’s Known For
Miley Cyrus	Got the role of Hannah Montana	Lead of *Hannah Montana*, major pop star
Taylor Momsen	Runner-up finalist	Jenny Humphrey on *Gossip Girl*, later rock singer with The Pretty Reckless
Daniella Monet	Runner-up finalist	Trina Vega on *Victorious*, roles on *Zoey 101*

Mini Story: The “What If” Timeline

Back in **2005** , Disney’s casting team was narrowing down over a thousand hopefuls to just a handful of names. The final call sheet that later went viral showed Miley Cyrus, Taylor Momsen, and Daniella Monet as the top contenders.

Imagine an alternate version of 2000s TV:

1. If Taylor Momsen had won
   • She might have become a Disney pop icon instead of moving into the edgier Upper East Side world of Gossip Girl as Jenny Humphrey.

2. If Daniella Monet had won
   • The energy she later brought to Trina Vega on Victorious might have defined Hannah’s on-stage personality instead.

Instead, Miley landed the part, and both Momsen and Monet went on to other big Nickelodeon and CW roles, creating that very specific late-2000s TV landscape fans still talk about today.

Forum & Trending Talk

Online discussions and entertainment news in the last few years have resurfaced this casting story, especially after the casting director joined TikTok to clarify the **Belinda rumor** and confirm the real finalists.

“These were the final three actresses that auditioned at the network test out of over 1200 girls.” – Lisa London, casting director, showing Miley, Taylor Momsen, and Daniella Monet on the sheet.

This revelation keeps popping up on social media nostalgia threads, “what if” fan posts, and celebrity casting trivia lists, keeping the question “who was the runner up for Hannah Montana” alive well over a decade after the show ended.

TL;DR

• The role of Hannah Montana ultimately went to Miley Cyrus.

• The two key runner-up finalists were Taylor Momsen and Daniella Monet.

• A casting director’s call sheet and later interviews confirm these three as the final contenders out of more than 1,200 auditioning girls.

Information gathered from public forums or data available on the internet and portrayed here.