Miley Cyrus discusses relationship with parents amid bitter family rift rumours

Miley Cyrus appears to have taken steps to silence rumours of a bitter family rift.

The 31-year-old singer sparked speculation she had fallen out with her father, Billy Ray Cyrus, when she omitted him from a Grammy Award speech in February after thanking other members of her family.

Billy divorced Miley's mother, Tish, last year after 30 years of marriage and there have also been reports that the former couple's daughter Noah has fallen out with Tish following the divorce too.

Appearing on David Letterman's My Next Guest Needs No Introduction show, Miley painted a picture of a happier family than the one depicted by unshakable rumours, saying, "Honestly, my mom is my hero.

"My father - I'm grateful for being able to watch him ahead of me. He's almost given me this map. There is a map of what to do and what not to do. And he's guided me on both."

The Hannah Montana star went on to acknowledge the difference between her own upbringing and that of her father.

She said, "My dad had a really rough childhood. And my childhood - I mean, we can go and talk about the hard times or the struggles - but I had food, I had love, I grew up in a beautiful big house and my dad didn't have that."

She then quipped, "I also inherited the narcissism from my father. He also has a relationship and a foot on the ground to nature and to the real. And he always did, even when he was super famous."