Former Disney star Hilary Duff has been off the music scene for over a decade and hasn’t performed onstage for nearly twice as long. But now she’s back full throttle.
In the years since Duff’s last tour in 2008, she’s gotten married twice. During these marriages, she welcomed four kids: Luca Comrie, 13, Banks Bair, 7, Mae James Bair, 4, with her first husband, Mike Comrie, and her youngest, 1-year-old Townes Meadow Bair, with her current husband, Matthew Koma.
A lot more has evolved in the 38-year-old’s world, and fans say that includes her looks.
On Monday, Jan. 19, the former “Lizzie McGuire” star made her return to stage with the opener of her “Small Rooms, Big Nerves” tour. Duff posted a video of herself using the intro to rapper Diamond Dondada’s song “She’s Back” during her preparation for her first performance at London’s O2 Shepherd’s Bush Empire that evening.
The video begins with her in a yellow shirt sitting in a chair as her glam team pretends to apply makeup and do her hair. During this shot, Duff glares at the camera and confidently lip-syncs along with the audio.
“I took over a year off and gave you b-tches some slack,” she mouthed.
The video then cut to a stage-ready Duff, who now had her hair lightly wand curled as she rocked a two-piece blue outfit.
As the audio continued, “Tell a friend to tell a friend she’s back,” she pushed up her top and shook her hips to the beat. She received a lot of supportive comments from excited fans under the post that reached over 1.2 million likes and counting.
But there were a few fans who could not get over the former child actress’s changed appearance. One person expressed these thoughts under a Lizzie McGuire fan account that reposted the video on X. They wrote, “She doesn’t even look like herself anymore.”
Another person who seemed taken aback typed, “Is this a clone?”
Not every fan felt the same, as some of Duff’s longtime followers thought she didn’t look that different at all.
One person complimenting her appearance said, “So gorgeous and literally looks the same from 20 years ago, natural beauty so rare these days.”
Another person reflecting on Duff’s notable Disney role as Lizzie McGuire commented, “And she still has that the Lizzie grin/smile DOWN pat.”
Following her performance, Duff shared a collection of images and a video from the night’s event. The 16-slide post featured photos of Duff interacting with her bandmates, singing, and connecting with the audience. The last slide was a clip of Duff performing the last few seconds of her 2009 song “Wake Up.” The video ends with her closing her eyes and smiling in relief, as the audience gives her an ovation.
Reflecting on the night, she wrote a message in the caption that reads, “18 years later, and I still can’t quite make sense of it all. I’ve imagined what it might feel like to return to the stage, but last night was something else entirely. The love, the community, the energy…it met me in a way I wasn’t prepared for.”
She then showed her gratitude to fans by thanking them for sticking by her side over the years.
Even though she took a break from singing, Duff didn’t completely leave show business. She was a cast member in a TV Land show called “Younger” for six seasons until it ended in 2021. In 2022 and 2023 she was the star of the sitcom “How I Met Your Father.”
She announced her return to music last fall, and by November, she released a single called “Mature,” her first in years.
She recently dropped the second single from her upcoming album, “Roommates,” a racy tune in which she sings about her ardor for a partner who has seemingly grown disinterested in her.
Duff’s album, “Luck… or Something” will be released on Feb. 20.
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