Teen pop superstar Miley Cyrus (a.k.a. Hannah Montana) lived in Toronto for four years when her proud papa, Billy Ray, was at work on the TV show Doc. She's glad to be back. (Alex Urosevic/Sun Media)

Miley Cyrus -- a.k.a. TV's Hannah Montana -- was thrilled about being back in her old stomping grounds yesterday of Toronto, where she will play a sold-out show tonight at the Air Canada Centre -- the only Canadian date on her massively popular Best of Both Worlds tour.

It was in The Big Smoke where Cyrus, the daughter of country singer Billy Ray, who plays regular teenager Miley Stewart and her international pop-star alter ego on the hit Disney Channel show of the same name (seen in Canada on Family Channel), got her first acting gig on her dad's now defunct series, Doc.

"It's always been something I wanted to do but this is where I started taking classes with (acting teacher) Dean Armstrong, he's incredible," said Cyrus, yawning as she had stayed up late the night before coming from a previous tour stop. "This is where I grew up and this is where I studied so hard so it's going to be crazy to see everyone."

In fact, Cyrus -- who lived for four years in Toronto (from age 8 to 12) -- had plans last night to attend a party hosted by Armstrong.

Cyrus got a genuine surprise yesterday when she stopped by MuchMusic where a couple of hundred fans had gathered for her appearance on MuchOnDemand.

Her idol and fellow pop star Hilary Duff called in from Vancouver where she is filming a movie and Cyrus was shocked.

"Shut up!" she screamed, while kicking her heels. "Thank you for making it cool to be a good girl and a good role model."

It seems, the mantle of being the most popular girl in teen pop right now -- her latest album, Hannah Montana 2, has sold 2.5 million copies and counting, her arena shows sold out in a matter of minutes, and scalpers are reportedly getting four to five times the face value of tickets -- still hasn't lost its gleam.

"I definitely still get so excited," she said while family members, a makeup artist, a hair stylist, a tutor and an army of publicists roamed in and out of her Toronto hotel suite.

"I'm like, 'Oh, my gosh, this is so cool.' Like who would have thought this would happen."

Still, there has been one sour note in the demand to see Cyrus in concert, with some of her fan club members launching a class-action lawsuit after they couldn't get tickets to her show.

It's the only issue that Cyrus didn't address yesterday with her manager seated nearby and interjecting, "We don't want to answer that."

Unbelievably, Cyrus still has 10 more shows to go in December, and they've just added 14 dates in the U.S. in January before she'll head over to do some European dates in February.

"We extended the tour and that's me kind of trying to make sure like everyone, especially from my fan club, gets a opportunity to come see the show," Cyrus said.

Still to come on Jan. 29 is a new Hannah Montana DVD, One in a Million, culled from TV viewers' favourite episodes from the second season and interview segments. There's also plans to begin shooting a Hannah Montana movie in the New Year.

Let's face it, she's a merchandising dream with a clothing line, books, bags, perfumes, even wigs for God's sake -- "They got bangs and they're long, so that's really fun," Cyrus explained.

Forbes also just named her among the "Top 20 Earners Under 25," placing No. 17 with an annual earning of $3.5 million US.

Her biggest splurge, so far, was a Prada purse that she bought in London at Harrods.

"I just try to manage it as much as possible 'cause I would never want to work so hard and use (money) on meaningless things 'cause that's not really what I'm all about," Cyrus said. "So hopefully, like I can donate to as many people as I can and that kind of thing, so when it comes time for me (to access her fortune held in trust) I can have a house and I can take care of myself. I can live on my own, which will be cool."

This Christmas a real trip

"A little hotel Christmas. It's my first Christmas somewhere not in my house. I'd love to be home but I think it's going to be cool to get to have a different (experience)."

Cyrus -- who is currently travelling with her mother and younger sister, Noah -- said her famous father has seen about four shows so far, in two of which he performed.

Billy Ray's showbiz advice, she said, has been simple.

"Just to have fun and he always says, 'If you're not having fun, it ain't working,' so to just love what you're doing."