Miley Cyrus has made no secret of the fact she refuses to be constrained by convention.
Just last month, the Wrecking Ball singer – who identifies as pansexual – revealed her fledgling marriage to Liam Hemsworth was “confusing, complex and modern” and that she was still “very sexually attracted to women”.
That seemed apparent when photos emerged of Miley sharing intimate moments with The Hills: New Beginnings star Kaitlynn Carter while on holiday in Lake Como, Italy.
“They looked super-close,” shared an onlooker.
“Miley and Kaitlynn were giggling together and seemed really excited to be in one another’s company.”
The pics emerged within hours of Miley and Liam’s shock August 10 announcement that they were ending things, after just seven months of marriage.
Miley and Kaitlynn were seen “giggling together” according to a source.
(Instagram / @kaitlynn)“Liam and Miley have agreed to separate at this time,” the statement issued by Miley’s publicist read.
“Ever-evolving, changing as partners and individuals they have decided this is what’s best while they both focus on themselves and their careers.”
Despite the civilised words, Miley’s very public connection with Kaitlynn has hurt Liam, insiders say.
“Liam has been waiting for years for Miley to ‘grow up’ as he saw it,” an insider tells OK! exclusively.
“She still just wants to have fun and shock people – and this make-out session in Italy with Kaitlynn, Brody Jenner’s ex-wife, shows that.”
Miley “still wants to have fun and shock people” a source spills.
(Instagram / @kaitlynn)Despite her antics with Kaitlynn (who split from Brody, 35, last month after 14 months of marriage), some friends insist Miley, 26, and the Instagram influencer are “just having fun”.
The source explains, “They’ve known each other for several months, but the two of them hooking up is very new.”
No matter what her relationship status is with the newly single Miley, Kaitlynn’s ex claims the 30-year-old has always been sexually adventurous.
In 2015, Brody bragged that he and Kaitlynn enjoyed ‘extremely exciting’ intimacy and that threesomes and public sex – including in “the changing room at the Grammys” – was part of their repertoire.
“We have the best sex,” he boasted on his short-lived show Sex With Brody.
“We’re not opposed to having somebody else join in on our escapades.”
Brody was very open about his and Kaitlynn’s sex life.
(Instagram / @kaitlynn)However, other insiders claim Miley and Kaitlynn’s liaison has been on the cards for some time.
Dishes a source, “[At the end of her marriage] Kaitlynn had some other priorities – and now we all know what they are.”
Now that their split is official, it seems the signs were already there that all was not well.
Back in May, Miley’s antics at the Met Gala raised eyebrows – and annoyed Liam, 29.
“He knows she’s a free spirit, but he was turned off when she began licking his face and grabbing her crotch,” an insider told OK! at the time.
“He doesn’t like that side of her because he’s the total opposite.”
Miley put on a daring display at this year’s Met Gala.
(Getty)Then the pair argued while inside a private member’s club in Malibu in June.
“She was so loud and acting bizarrely,” says a source.
“Liam just sat at the group’s table with his arms crossed looking absolutely furious.”
And later that month, Miley went on a pointed rant while onstage at Glastonbury Festival.
“I’m f—ing sick of men,” she blasted.
WATCH: A complete timeline of Miley Cyrus and Liam Hemsworth’s relationship. Story continues after video…
In one of their last public appearances together in California on July 9, the couple seemed distant.
“Miley was glued to her phone and ignored Liam,” tells an onlooker.
And Miley has made it clear, in recent lyrics, that she can’t – and won’t – be tamed.
“If you’re looking for faithful, that’ll never be me. If you’re looking for stable, that’ll never be me,” she sings in her upcoming track Never Be Me.
Miley’s recent lyrics suggest there might have been trouble in paradise all along.
(Instagram / @mileycyrus)“This split isn’t shocking to people who are actually with them every day,” adds another source.
“They had a lot of issues.”
Since announcing their separation, a sombre Liam has retreated to Byron Bay to spend time with his brother Chris and his family.
Despite the drama, Liam has wished Miley well.
“[We’ve] recently separated,” he said on Instagram on August 13.
“I wish her nothing but health and happiness going forward.”
Liam is understood to be laying low in Byron Bay where his older brother Chris resides.
(Getty)Miley and Liam have always had an on/off relationship, but their wedding last December was supposed to mark a new beginning for the pair, as they had just lost their Malibu home to the California wildfires.
But now it seems the marriage was a bandaid – and Miley, who has said she was never going to be a ‘stereotypical wife’, has moved on.
“Don’t fight evolution because you’ll never win,” she commented on Insta after the split was announced.
“Change is inevitable.”
Sadly, for this once seemingly perfect pair, it also seems irreversible.
“They’re done,” OK!‘s insider tells.
“They’ve totally grown apart.”
WATCH: Miley Cyrus and Liam Hemsworth made a rare red carpet appearance:
