Liam Hemsworth reveals the real reason he and Miley Cyrus wed

Liam Hemsworth and Miley Cyrus’ home was reduced to rubble in the devastating wildfires that ravaged California last November — and while the couple had time to rescue pets and some treasured mementos, Hemsworth says there’s one keepsake he wished he’d thought to save.

“Obviously there are photos and things like that, but the one thing I wish I did grab was this Rolex that Lionsgate had given me as a present, after the first Hunger Games film came out,” Hemsworth reveals in the May/June issue of GQ.

“I always imagined giving it to my first son or something. I don’t hold too much sentiment to possessions, but that was probably the one thing I wish I’d taken.”

The couple rallied around those in need, donating $US500,000 to victims of the fire even as they dealt with their own devastating losses. “Overnight, you literally lose all your possessions and your space, your nest,” Hemsworth tells GQ.

“It’s been a heartbreaking few days. This is what’s left of my house. Love,” Hemsworth wrote on Instagram, alongside a shocking photo of his decimated house.

Meanwhile, despite losing their home, Cyrus wrote that she knew the couple were some of “the lucky ones”.

In the immediate aftermath of the fire, as the pair started to rebuild their lives, they wed in a low-key ceremony. The bride wore a Vivienne Westwood ivory gown; the groom, a black suit and a pair of white Vans. They danced to Mark Ronson’s global hit Uptown Funk in a video Cyrus posted from the reception.

It was a decade since they’d first got together, and the timing might’ve seemed strange to some — why throw a wedding when you’re life’s been turned upside down? Hemsworth reveals it was actually the fire that prompted them to make the commitment.
 

“It doesn’t change the relationship, it’s a more connected, deeper version of your relationship before you got married. But it’s still the same thing,” he tells GQ.

“I was 18 when I met Miley. We really fell in love quickly and had a really strong connection from the beginning and I think in the back of my head I knew it was on the cards, but we weren’t planning to have a wedding anytime soon.”

The fire changed all that.

Then just going through something this emotional with someone, it brings you closer and we felt like we’d lost a big part of our lives, so we wanted to make a new part of our lives. It was something really good coming out of a horrible situation. It was going to happen eventually, but I think this just sped it up a little bit.”

Cyrus invented a new term for Hemsworth after the fire: her “survival partner”.

“That is why you pair up with someone, for survival, and he was so incredible,” she told radio host Howard Stern. “He got all the animals out in his truck. He put two pigs in crates, which, I can tell you, is so hard.”
 

For the full shoot and interview with Liam Hemsworth, head to GQ.com.au or pick up the May/June issue of the magazine, out Monday May 6.