Aly Michalka mistakenly thought she was making "great money" when she was on the Disney Channel
The 35-year-old singer rose to fame when she took on the part of Keely Teslow on the sitcom 'Phil of the Future' in the mid-2000s and described her salary as "nothing" even though at the time, it felt like it could go towards a college fund.
12 January 2025
Speaking on the 'Call Her Daddy' podcast, Aly said: "Any money that you're making seems great but I made like $7,000 per episode on 'Phil of the Future'
"That ain't nothing! Do you know what I mean? I don't know what that would equate to today. But I guess for a kids' show you're kind of like 'That's great, that could go into their college fund...'"
Outside of the show, Aly is also known as part of the pop-rock duo Aly and AJ with her younger sister and even though the siblings had both achieved fame in their teenage years, their parents made sure to keep them grounded.
AJ said: "I can tell you we weren't the boss of our household, that's for sure.
"Just because we were working did not put us at the top. We were the kids."
Aly also claimed that she had received "an offer" to star alongside her sister in 'Hannah Montana' once 'Phil of the Future' had ended before Miley Cyrus was chosen to front the series that followed the adventures of a schoolgirl who lived a double life as a world-famous pop star.
She said: "I had the offer. They knew that 'Phil' was on the way out, they told us we might not be doing a third season. And Gary Marsh, who was the head of the channel at the time, was like 'This pilot has come in, and we think you would be really perfect for it.'
But the 'Potential Breakup Song' hitmaker thought that it would be "really confusing" to her fanbase to take on the role of a fictional singer as she was getting together a music career in her own right.
She said: "I remember reading and being like 'But I'm doing music as Aly' and thought it might be confusing being Hannah, and being the character playing Hannah.
"They said that AJ could play the best friend, Lily, but I said 'It feels like my show...' And at that point, I was close to being 17. I booked Phil at 13 and by the time it was over, I was almost 17. I just remember thinking that I had done what I wanted to do on the channel."
In the end, Miley won the part over future Nickelodeon star Daniella Monet and 'The Grinch' actress Taylor Momsen.
'Hannah Montana' became a billion-dollar franchise for Disney, and from 2006 until 2011 spawned four seasons, a cinematic film and a concert tour.
© 2025 Bang Showbiz, NZCity
