Elizabeth Hurley isn’t just friends with ex-boyfriend, Hugh Grant — the two are still “extremely” close, according to the actress.
Hurley, who dated the Love Actually star for more than a decade, opened up to People in the ’90s podcast about how the two have been able to maintain a friendship years later.
“I’m still extremely good friends with Hugh,” the 55-year-old model shared. “You know, we went through so much together. But I’ve been thinking, one of the most important things to keep good relations with your exes is to have a lot of respect for their current life.”
Grant, 60, and Hurley met in 1987 and dated for 13 years — weathering through the period when he was infamously caught with a prostitute in 1995. The actors ultimately split in 2000, but it was amicable. Grant is even godfather to Hurley’s son, Damian.
“We haven’t been romantically involved for 20 years, I think, even though we have such a strong friendship. But we’re always very aware that there are other people in our lives,” Hurley added, “There’s partners, there’s children. You can’t just, sort of, live in a lovely, rosy, mist of the past. You have to move with the times and be very respectful of the present, which we are.”
Hurley dated Steve Bing, who is Damian’s father, after Grant. She went on to marry businessman, Arun Nayar. They divorced in 2011. She later got engaged to Australian cricket star Shane Warne, but they ended their relationship in 2013. In 2019, the actress said she’s happily single. Grant shares two children with ex Tinglan Hong, and three with wife Anna Elisabet Eberstein.
Grant and Hurley have different takes about why they ultimately broke up.
On Watch What Happens Live in 2015, Grant told Andy Cohen he and the actress split because “the sex bit probably fizzled out, but now she’s my absolute best friend — number one person I call in a crisis.” When Hurley was asked to respond to Grant’s revelation on WWHL weeks later, she said it was because he was “very grumpy.”
“He used to really annoy me, actually. I mean, I love him, but, um, he’s very annoying,” Hurley said. “My friends used to call him Grumpelstiltskin.”
“But I found it actually fairly charming,” Cohen noted.
“I do too,” Hurley replied. “But not 24/7.”