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Ella Langley revealed what she was thinking when people guessed Miley Cyrus would be her special guest at Stagecoach Music Festival.
The country star made her debut at the Indio, Calif. event at the Empire Polo Club on Friday, April 24, where she surprised fans by inviting Theo Von on stage to perform her duet “You Look Like You Love Me.”
That same day, Langley, 26, had also released the collaboration “I Can’t Love You Anymore” with Morgan Wallen, which led fans to speculate that the two-time Grammy nominee could make a surprise appearance with her at Stagecoach.
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But the “Be Her” singer had heard other names thrown around by fans.
“It was really funny because I heard a couple of people were like, ‘Your special guest…is it going to be Miley Cyrus?’ And I’m thinking in my mind, like, it’s Theo Von,” Langley tells PEOPLE at the 2026 Billboard Women in Music Awards on Wednesday, April 29.
The “Choosin’ Texas” artist then praised the podcaster, 46, for his performance with her.
“He crushed it. He did a great job. I’ve had some other artists out do it, and they did not crush it in the same way,” says Langley.
In fact, she loved that he “hyped up the crowd.”
“It was great,” says Langley. “It’s all you can ask for.”
Per Rolling Stone, before Langley began performing “You Look Like You Love Me,” she told the crowd that it was “story time” and recalled a lonely night when she encountered a cowboy.
That’s when Von appeared, sporting a Canadian tuxedo and straw cowboy hat, and took on Riley Green’s verse. After pointing at Langley, the pair sang the chorus in unison.
However, Von showed off his energy on stage, jumping into the air and even losing his hat at one point.
Eventually, the crowd joined in on the chorus, “You look like you love me/You look like you want me to want you to come on home.”
When Von exited the stage, Langley teased, “Bet you didn’t expect that… Keep ’em guessin’!”
Langley notably stopped by Von’s podcast earlier this month to discuss her sophomore album Dandelion.
At the 2026 Billboard Women in Music Awards, Langley reflects on the reaction to her new record, which she says has been “awesome.”
“It is all you can hope for. It’s more than I could hope for,” she tells PEOPLE. “To see the reaction to some of these songs, to all the songs, really, I’m just grateful. I’m so grateful.”
Dandelion is out now.
