This has been quite the year for Elizabeth Hurley. Between celebrating her 60th birthday in June, falling in love with American country singer Billy Ray Cyrus, 64, and landing the starring role in a new TV show, the actress has been booked and busy. "It has been such a whirlwind," she tells HELLO! in an exclusive interview. "It was wonderful to sit back and be spoiled for a few days [for my 60th birthday]. I hibernated at home with some of my best friends and family. My son baked a delicious cake and we all sat around giggling and being silly, which is my favourite occupation."
Elizabeth became an overnight sensation when she attended the Four Weddings and a Funeral premiere with her then-boyfriend Hugh Grant, wearing a daring Versace dress that was held together with safety pins. "That dress is virtually the only one I’ve ever worn which isn’t in my archive, as it’s in The Metropolitan Museum… but when I get it back, it would be great to try it on again," she says.
© FilmMagicSince that premiere, Elizabeth has had TV roles in Gossip Girl, The Royals and Marvel’s Runaways and last year starred in Strictly Confidential, a thriller written and directed by her 23-year-old son Damian Hurley. By way of movies, she has starred in the Austin Powers films and others, including Bedazzled.
Elizabeth also runs her successful swimwear company, named Elizabeth Hurley Beach, and proudly showcases her age-defying figure by modelling her own bikinis. Although she tells us she hasn’t set foot in a gym 'in decades' and does all of her workouts from her garden in Herefordshire. She adds:"Elizabeth Hurley Beach makes me very happy. I know all my employees by name, plus I design every piece myself and answer to no one. We’ve just started working on a very exciting crochet collection, for women who don’t want to show off lots of skin but still want to feel sexy on the beach. Watch this space."
This autumn, Elizabeth will be back on our TV screens in Channel 4’s The Inheritance, a reality show in which she plays The Deceased, a fabulously glamorous benefactor who summons 13 strangers to her grand stately home to compete for her fortune. Overseeing The Deceased’s will is her executor and trusted legal counsel, TV judge Robert Rinder.
Here, Elizabeth tells HELLO! all about falling in love with Billy, celebrating 60 trips around the sun and why she returned to TV…
2025 has been a huge year for you. What’s been your highlight so far?
This year marks my 30th year working with the Estée Lauder Companies and my 30th year as the Global Ambassador for the Estée Lauder Companies’ Breast Cancer Campaign, which is the most meaningful work of my life. We’ve helped raise over a billion dollars for life saving breast cancer research. I also met and fell in love with my boyfriend. So yes, a good year.
What's making you happy at the moment?
My friends, family, Billy Ray, my dogs, my parrot and my new tortoise James. I’ve been in England all summer for the first time ever and have loved every moment. Billy is teaching me to play the guitar; right now I’m appalling but I’m hoping to improve!
© InstagramWhat did turning 60 mean to you and how did you celebrate?
This year has been such a whirlwind that it was wonderful to sit back and be spoiled for a few days. I hibernated at home with some of my best friends and family. My son baked a delicious cake and we all sat around giggling and being silly, which is my favourite occupation.
This year has been such a whirlwind that it was wonderful to sit back and be spoiled for a few days. I hibernated at home with some of my best friends and family.
Do you have any plans to work with Damian again?
My son and I work excellently together. I feel totally at ease when we’re on set and trust him implicitly. We’re currently developing a very exciting TV series together.
What's your favourite thing to do together?
Like me, Damian is on the road non-stop for work, so we try to find at least one week every year where we go away on holiday just the two of us, usually around his birthday. It’s sort of become a tradition. We usually go to the Maldives for Damian’s birthday but by far and away our favourite place in the world is our home in Herefordshire. Damian has an apartment in Chelsea but loves coming home to the countryside.
© Getty ImagesIt's been five years since your last show. What was it about The Inheritance that brought you back to TV?
Filming scripted TV is fabulous but exhausting; the schedules are very tough. I went from shooting Gossip Girl in New York, to five years on The Royals in London and then straight into a season of Marvel’s Runaways in LA. Then the world shut down for Covid, which forced me to take a break for the first time since I left college. I discovered I really loved spending time at home so after the lockdowns I went back to movies, which shoot fairly quickly, meaning I could get home to my family. I really enjoy TV though, so I’m glad to be back.
What are you hoping to achieve this year – and decade?
I’ve always enjoyed work more than play and have much more fun at work than doing anything social. I’m more relaxed on a film set than anywhere else. However, without doubt this has meant that I’ve struggled with a work life balance since I started in the industry so I make a conscious effort now to really enjoy spending more time at home with my family and friends and not just skip from job to job.
© Getty ImagesWhat does a typical day at home in Herefordshire look like?
If I’m not working, I don’t set an alarm and wake up naturally – usually between 7am and 8am. I slurp a probiotic and take the dogs out clutching my binoculars, in the hope that I spot our resident goshawks with whom I’m obsessed. Then I take a few tasty morsels out to James the tortoise and stroke the top of his head for a bit. Once back home I have a few espressos, check my inbox and the rest of the day is usually a whirlwind of cooking, gardening, signing off on projects and the dreaded Zooms. I generally race around until 7pm, but after dinner I’m ready to collapse and either snuggle up with Billy and listen to music or watch a movie.
You are renowned for your close-knit circle of female friends. What does female friendship mean to you? How do you support each other?
I worship my girlfriends. We’ve been there for each other through thick and thin and I’d be bereft without them. My friends come from all sorts of walks of life and we’re incredibly close. I also have a lot of great platonic male friends. We lost a good friend last month and it’s been very tough.
What are your workout secrets - do you exercise every day? How do you stay so strong and healthy?
I haven’t set foot in a gym for decades and don’t work out per se, but I’m very active by nature and very rarely sit still. When home, I spend all day outside wrestling my garden into submission so, by default, I bend, stretch and lift things all day long. I have a tool shed for which only I have a key, full of my ‘lady tools’. My favourite is a mini leaf blower which Joan Collins and her husband gave me. I use it every day.
Tell us about filming The Inheritance. What attracted you to the role?
When the offer for The Inheritance came through, I’d just decided to take my first ever summer off. But when I heard the concept of the show, found out the heavenly Rob Rinder was onboard and saw the magical stately home in Dorset in which we’d be filming, I knew I had to do it.
© Channel 4Tell us about your character and why you enjoyed playing her?
I play The Deceased; an extremely wealthy woman who loathed her own family. She decided that when she died complete strangers should compete for parts of her vast inheritance. The Deceased videotaped herself setting competitions and pitting the contestants against each other. In all the tapes, The Deceased is lounging around her stately home in ravishing couture gowns, gradually revealing quite a lot of her own Machiavellian character.
What have you enjoyed most about the process, and what do you think the audience will enjoy about it?
I’d never watched unscripted TV before, but when this offer came through, I watched The Traitors and was instantly hooked. The Inheritance is fun, sexy, devious and exactly the sort of entertainment we need in 2025. I think people are going to love it.
The Inheritance is fun, sexy, devious and exactly the sort of entertainment we need in 2025. I think people are going to love it.
Do you have any memories from filming?
My team and I stayed in an exquisite cottage on the estate whilst filming; swans glided up a stream which flowed through the garden and deer and rabbits scampered on the lawn. We walked to work every day and it felt like we were on holiday. Filming in a stately home is always an utter delight as there are so many beautiful things to look at between takes.
Is there a type of acting role you'd love to play?
I absolutely loved The Gentlemen and would love to be in a Guy Ritchie show. I was also obsessed with Yellowstone and would love to work with Taylor Sheridan. I’m developing a movie where I play an ordinary woman who is forced to turn feral to protect her daughter and I like the way it’s shaping up.
© Channel 4People still talk about your iconic Versace safety pin dress. Would you wear that dress again?
That dress is virtually the only one I’ve ever worn which isn’t in my archive, as it’s in The Metropolitan Museum… but when I get it back, it would be great to try it on again. I love re wearing dresses; over lockdown, I sorted my archive properly and have re worn lots of my 90’s/00’s pieces. I re wore a white Tom Ford mini dress in Monaco this summer which hadn’t had an outing since before my son was born.
What's your go-to outfit to feel great in now?
My whole life I’ve been happiest in jeans and a T shirt but this summer has been so hot that I’ve spent most days in a bikini. Luckily, I have a warehouse full of them.
© Getty ImagesYou have a successful swimwear company - what's next for the brand?
Elizabeth Hurley Beach makes me very happy. I know all my employees by name, design every piece myself and answer to no one. I keep it small and manageable and genuinely still enjoy doing it. We’ve just started working on a very exciting crochet collection, for women who don’t want to show off lots of skin but still want to feel sexy on the beach. Watch this space…
The Inheritance is on Channel 4, watch or stream Sundays and Mondays 9pm and Tuesdays at 9:30pm.
