Miley Cyrus' arm candy for the 2014 MTV Video Music Awards (VMA) was a homeless man named Jesse, who also received an award on behalf of the singer here.

On her way to the music awards' night Sunday, Cyrus took to her Instagram to show off her arm candy saying: "My date :) #jesse #myfriendsplace #mtvVMAs2014."

The "We can't stop" hitmaker made no mention of Jesse, but she has frequently referenced her charity work at myfriendsplace.org - an organisation dedicated to helping the homeless build self-sufficient lives, reports eonline.com.

The 22-year-old homeless guy hit the VMA stage to accept the Video of the Year Award for "Wrecking Ball" on behalf of Cyrus.

Cyrus looked on with tears in her eyes as Jesse began speaking of the 1.6 million runaways and homeless youth in the US who are starving and lost and scared for their lives, before he admitted to being one of them.

Committed to doing something about the widespread numbers of homeless youth here facing Jesse's plight, the pop star has launched a Prizeo fundraising campaign to get fans to join her fight.