Miley Cyrus needed "time to grow up" when she and fiance Liam Hemsworth split.

The 24-year-old singer first started dating Australian actor Liam after they starred together in 2010 movie The Last Song. They got engaged in June 2012, but called off the engagement in late 2013. They rekindled their relationship in early 2016, and now appear to be going from strength to strength.

And during an interview on radio station Sirius XM, Miley admitted it was their time apart that has contributed to making their romance so concrete.

"People that break up and get back together - I think that's awesome because you know it's true, but also you get time to be yourself, you get time to grow up," she explained. "If you're growing up attached to another person, you never really get solid as your own being. So I'm really solid and he gets to be really solid and together, we get to be two really grounded people - it's not a half and a half making a whole."

Miley is gearing up to release her new album, with the first track off it, Malibu, inspired by Liam and their relationship. When it came to their break-up, the Wrecking Ball star had faith that it had happened for a reason, and would lead her to where she needed to be.

"I think, know that everything is happening for the right reason," Miley mused. "And I knew that when we weren't together the first time - I didn't know if that was the end of it, or knew if we were going to get back together again, but knew that wherever I was going I was on the right path."

Miley also revealed in the interview that she has managed to stay off marijuana, after recently kicking her recreational drug habit, and feels better because of it.