Liam Hemsworth’s Family ‘Always Struggled’ With Miley Cyrus: Who His Mom Wants To See Him With

After a lengthy trip back home to Australia, Liam was recently spotted holding hands with new flame Maddison Brown!

Liam Hemsworth, 29, has been relatively off the grid after this split with wife Miley Cyrus, 26. “Liam has been relying on the strength of his family to deal with his break-up from Miley. He left to go to Australia for so long because he didn’t want to be a part of the drama,” a source spilled to HollywoodLife EXCLUSIVELY. The actor was spotted vacationing on Richard Branson‘s Makepeace Island with older brother Chris Hemsworth, 36 shortly after news of the split broke on Aug. 10. “Liam really felt he needed his family after the break-up. They are very, very close.”

Miley and Liam’s romance spanned nearly a decade, as the duo originally met in 2009 while shooting Nicholas Sparks‘ film The Last Song. At the time, Miley was only 16 and Liam was 19. The pair dated for several years before calling it quits in 2014, eventually getting back together in 2016. While they finally married in December of last year, the insider also revealed that Miley didn’t always have the stamp of approval from Liam’s mother, Leonie Hemsworth. “His mom is feeling so relieved that Liam made the decision to end the relationship as his entire family, but her especially, always struggled approving Miley,” they added.

Miley has since moved on with Kaitlynn Carter, 31, and Cody Simpson, 22 — and Liam was also spotted holding hands with a new flame: 22-year-old actress Maddison Brown. “Liam’s family just wants him to be happy, but they want to see him with someone much more traditional and they won’t be happy until he has that,” the source added. Maddison, best known from The CW’s Dynasty re-boot, certainly has a more conservative image on social media than racy Miley — but she did once admit to fantasizing about having sex with Liam.

“[Liam] really struggled with the break-up and is going to be cautious and slow heading into the next relationship. It’s now very important for him to have his mother’s stamp of approval and he seems to be going in a different direction with what he’s looking for in a partner this time around. He’s really listening to his mother,” the insider concluded.