Miley Cyrus might be engaged to marry Liam Hemsworth later this year, but the 23-year-old singer has just opened up about her first relationship – with a woman.

Modeling for the cover of Variety's Power Of Women issue, the actress-turned-singer – who last year exclusively told ELLE she identified as pansexual (a person not limited in sexual choice depending on sex, gender, or gender identity) – revealed: 'My eyes started opening in the fifth or sixth grade. My first relationship in my life was with a chick.

'My whole life, I didn't understand my own gender and my own sexuality.

'I always hated the word 'bisexual,' because that's even putting me in a box. I don't ever think about someone being a boy or someone being a girl,' she added.

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The Voice coach – who has previously been linked to model Stella Maxwell, Nick Jonas and Patrick Schwarzenegger – said she finally was able to identify with a sexual label after visitng a LGBTQ centre in Los Angeles and met someone who neither identitfied as male or female.

The star – who would like to see the letter 'P' added to LGBTQ for 'pansexual' – said: 'Looking at them, they were both: beautiful and sexy and tough but vulnerable and feminine but masculine. And I related to that person more than I related to anyone in my life,' she continued.

Miley Cyrus on The Voice | ELLE UKpinterest
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However, despite her current honesty with sexuality, the former Disney star admitted that her family have only recently started to come to terms with her views on gender and sexual identity.

Following an audition on The Voice with a girl who told Cyrus she came out thanks to the singer's candidness on the subject of sexuality, Miley admits it was only then that her conservative mother Tish understood where she was coming from.

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'My mom started crying. She was like, 'I'm so sorry about the way I was when you were that age and coming out.' She never understood me until she saw that girl who couldn't be herself. It was very cool,' she concluded.

Very cool, indeed.

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Katie O'Malley
Site Director

Katie O'Malley is the Site Director on ELLE UK. On a daily basis you’ll find Katie managing all digital workflow, editing site, video and newsletter content, liaising with commercial and sales teams on new partnerships and deals (eg Nike, Tiffany & Co., Cartier etc), implementing new digital strategies and compiling in-depth data traffic, SEO and ecomm reports. In addition to appearing on the radio and on TV, as well as interviewing everyone from Oprah Winfrey to Rishi Sunak PM, Katie enjoys writing about lifestyle, culture, wellness, fitness, fashion, and more.