She's the wholesome fresh-faced star of the Disney Channel's top TV series Hannah Montana - but it seems Miley Cyrus is developing a rock 'n roll side.
The 16-year-old, who has just broken up with her boyfriend, posted a picture of herself on her Twitter page apparently showing her with a new nose piercing.
If genuine it would be a shock for her legions of tweenage six to 14-year-old followers - for whom Miley is held up as a suitable role model.
Is that real? Miley Cyrus shows off what appears to be a new nose piercing as she poses with her mother Leticia Cyrus on Twitter (Picture: Twitter)
In the photograph Miley is seen posing with her blonde-haired mother Leticia 'Tish' Cyrus.
Miley's young fans have left their comments beneath the picture, which is entitled Dinner with Mommy in Savannah.
Piercing: But is it just a film prop?
'Woooow miley do you have a pearcing on your nose I have a nose pearcing too miley your amazing love you,' enthused MileyFan145.
However, it seems unlikely Miley would get a piercing on her face.
Perhaps the piercing is a prop for her new film The Last Song, which she is currently filming in Georgia.
In the Nicholas Sparks-scripted adaptation of his upcoming novel she plays a rebellious teenager sent to spend the summer with her estranged father - with the movie due out next year.
She is also unlikely to endanger her place as the star of Hannah Montana - which has so far netted her a fortune of £16 million.
It is the number-one show for the lucrative tween audience, while spin-off albums from the series have all topped the American charts.
This isn't be the first time a photograph of Miley has caused controversy.
Last year, a furore erupted around a set of photos, taken by Vanity Fair photographer Annie Leibovitz, which showed her naked but for a sheet around her body.
Though the photos were tame, the Lolita-style implications were clear, and Miley was forced to apologise as her clean-cut image suffered a blow.
Wholesome: Disney star Miley, without a nosestud, at a charity event in Los Angeles this week
This year she apologised again when a photo of her making a 'slanty-eyed' gesture surfaced on the internet, much to the consternation of race-relations groups in America.
New love? Miley and Steve Rushton filming a video for her show Hannah Montana last year
Miley often uses her Twitter page to keep her fans updated on her life - this week speaking of her sadness amid reports she has split with underwear model boyfriend Justin Gaston.
She wrote on her Twitter page: 'Tears are words the heart can't express.'
In a direct response, teen heartthrob Gaston, 20, a former contestant on U.S. show Nashville Star and wannabe country singer, wrote: 'How many tears are in there? They've gotta run out soon right?'
Hours later rumours surfaced that she has already found herself a new man - British 22-year-old Steve Rushton - who plays lead guitar in Miley's band in Hannah Montana: The Movie.
Rushton, from Frimley in Surrey, was briefly in the band Son Of Dork, with ex-Busted band member James Bourne before he moved to the U.S.
A source told The Sun: 'They hit it off straight away. When they have been apart they have been spnding hours instant messaging each other.
'She is still young but she is smitted with him. They are very much in love.'
Steve wrote some of the songs on the last Hannah Montana album and has been co-writing tracks with Miley for the series.
