He says, quote, "I'll tell you right now...the damn show destroyed my family."

With his marriage in the crapper and Miley going off the rails, Billy Ray has nothing but regret about doing the show.

He says, quote, "I hate to say it, but yes . . . I'd take it back in a second.  For my family to be here and just be everybody OK, safe and sound and happy and normal, would have been fantastic.

"Heck, yeah.  I'd erase it all in a second if I could."

Because he chose to do the show with Miley in order to stay close to her, Billy Ray says he was unfairly blamed for every scandal she got involved in…from her too-sexy "Vanity Fair" photo shoot to her pole-dancing escapades.

He even claims Miley's handlers set him up to take the fall…quote, "All those people around, they used me every time.  It became so obvious that, man, no matter what happens, they're going to put you up there and let you take the bullet."

But he let it happen because, quote, "That's what daddies do…Okay, nail me to the cross.  I'll take it."

But last year, Billy Ray had enough of being Miley's garbage boy.  Her 18th birthday party was being held in a 21-and-over club . . . and her people wanted Billy Ray there so that if any bad press came out of it, they could say he endorsed it.

Billy Ray refused to show up.  He says, quote, "I started realizing I'm being used.  If I would have went out there I would have been right in the middle of all this stuff that's going on right now with the bong.

''They'd be hanging my a**.  I had the common sense…I said, 'This whole thing's falling apart up there and they just want to blame all this stuff on you again.'  I'm staying out of it."

As For That Bong Scandal:

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One thing Miley's people told Billy Ray to stay out of was the bong scandal.  He says, quote, "I didn't know what the footage was.  They told me, it was none of my business.

"I'm dealing with somebody that had only known my daughter for possibly four years, and I'm her daddy.  I was pretty damn insulted.  And I took that as the ultimate alarm.

"'It's none of your business'!  None of my business that you're out running around L.A. trying to buy kids' computers and phones because there's something about my daughter?"

Billy Ray's More Worried About Miley Than Himself:

Obviously, Billy Ray isn't really worried about himself.  He's worried about Miley.  He says, quote, "I'm scared for her.  She's got a lot of people around her that's putting her in a great deal of danger.

"I know she's 18, but I still feel like as her daddy I'd like to try to help.  Take care of her just a little bit, to at least get her out of danger."

He adds, quote, "I want to get her sheltered from the storm.  Stop the insanity just for a minute.  When you go through what she's been through, it takes a beating on you.  And there comes a point where you just got to step back."

Is Miley Just Like Cobain, Anna Nicole and MJ?

Billy Ray even draws parallels between Miley and certain celebrities who died too soon.

He says, quote, "I'm concerned about Miley.  I think that [Kurt Cobain’s] world was just spinning so fast and he had so many people around him that didn't help him.

"Like Anna Nichole Smith…you could see that train wreck coming …Michael Jackson… I was trying to reach out to Michael Jackson."

One of the reasons things have gotten to where they are is because Billy Ray tried to be more of a FRIEND to Miley than a PARENT.

He says, quote, "I should have been a better parent.  I should have said, 'Enough is enough . . . it's getting dangerous and somebody's going to get hurt.'

"I should have, but I didn't . . . Honestly, I didn't know the ball was out of bounds until it was way up in the stands somewhere."

Is Satan At Work to Destroy the Cyrus Family?

Disney owns "Hannah Montana", and "Hannah Montana" destroyed the Cyrus family.  So it's Disney's fault, right?  Not necessarily.  Billy Ray has his eye on another possible culprit:  SATAN HIMSELF.

Billy Ray says his soon-to-be ex-wife TISH made the whole family get baptized before they moved to Hollywood to keep them strong.  But it didn't work.

He says, quote, "Driving to work each day in the City of Angels, was this sign.  A physical sign.  It could have easily said 'You will now be attacked by Satan.  Entering this industry, you are now on the highway to darkness.'

"It's the way it is.  There has always been a battle between good and evil.  Always will be.  You think, 'This is a chance to make family entertainment, bring families together . . .' and look what it's turned into."

Billy Ray Never Made A Dime Off Miley:

Even though Billy Ray was on "Hannah Montana" with Miley, he's not her manager, and has no say in her professional career.  He says he did the show for PEANUTS just to be near her, and he's never taken advantage of her success.

He says, quote, "For the record, to set it straight, I want to tell you:  I've never made a dime off of Miley.  You got a lot of people have made percentages off of her.

"I'm proud to say to this day I've never made one commissioned dollar, or dime, off of my daughter."

(Millions of people saw the Miley implosion coming YEARS ago.  Was Billy Ray just too close to the situation to realize it?  Does he deserve our sympathy now?  Or is this his own fault?  Discuss.)

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