Why Elizabeth Hurley's Son Is Giving a Shoutout to Billy Ray Cyrus

Hugh Grant

Elizabeth Hurley and Hugh Grant were both up-and-comers when they met making the 1988 Spanish film Rowing With the Wind, in which Grant portrayed Romantic icon Lord Byron.

"Hugh did look particularly fine in those cream britches," Hurley jested in an interview. "But I think I might have liked him anyway. There was an instant rapport. He made me laugh."

The longtime couple seemingly shot to global stardom simultaneously, Grant for his breakout performance in 1994's Four Weddings and a Funeral and Hurley, by then a major model, for the still-iconic Versace safety-pin gown she wore to the film's London premiere.

So wasn't the globe shocked when Grant was arrested in June 1995 for lewd conduct with a prostitute (and later was sentenced to two years' unsupervised probation after pleading no contest), and his publicity tour for the warm 'n' fuzzy rom-com Nine Months turned into an apology odyssey?

But Hurley stood by him, including at the film's premiere—"She has been real supportive and we're going to try and work it out," Grant said on The Tonight Show With Jay Leno—and they ultimately stayed together until 2000.

"I loved everything I was doing, and I think I just sort of, you know—you know, I've got great friends, great family," Hurley said on Larry King Live in 2000, reflecting on how she fluourished post-scandal. "And so, you know, everything turned out OK in the end."

Hugh Grant

They remained super-close, Hurley calling Grant "my best friend for life" during an appearance on E!'s Daily Pop in 2018.

"The thing is, if someone’s lovely, how could you not be on good terms with them?" she told the Daily Mail's You Magazine in 2017, explaining how she stayed good friends with most of her exes. 'None of us has ever done anything bad to one another."

In December 2024, Hurely conceded they weren't as close anymore, but not because they had soured on each other.

"I mean, he's married with five children," she noted during the Bazaar At Work summit in December 2024. "I hardly ever see him, but he's still very close to my heart." (And she is godmother to one of his kids, as well.)

Steve Bing

Hurley gave birth to son Damian Hurley in April 2002, after her romantic relationship with his dad, financier and producer Steve Bing, had ended.

Bing wouldn't initially admit to being Damian's father, but a DNA test proved it that June.

"I have always made it perfectly clear that I don’t want any financial help from him whatsoever," Hurley said in a statement at the time, per the Daily Mail. "The money is not wanted or welcome." (Bing had said, per the BBC, that once paternity was confirmed he would "generously support" his son.)

When Bing died by suicide in June 2020 at the age of 55. Hurley wrote on Instagram that she was "saddened beyond belief" by his death.

"It is a terrible end," she continued. "Our time together was very happy and I’m posting these pictures because although we went through some tough times, it’s the good, wonderful memories of a sweet, kind man that matter. In the past year we had become close again. We last spoke on our son’s 18th birthday."

Steve Nash

Hurley briefly teamed up with NBA point guard Steve Nash in 2001.

"They just vibed," Nash's agent told Sports Illustrated at the time. "They ended up hanging out, and there was some chemistry. The relationship is authentic."

Arun Nayar

Hurley wed businessman Arun Nayar in 2007 after four years of dating.

She announced their split on X (formerly Twitter) in December 2010: "For the record, my husband Arun & I separated a few months ago. Our close family & friends were aware of this."

Their divorce was finalized the following year. But true to form, the exes remained friends, Nayar attending several public events with Hurley and Damian post-split.

"Hugh and Arun are very important in our lives," Hurley told You in 2017.

Moreover, she shared, "I absolutely adore his mother; she’s German so we call her Mutti. In India I stay with her and when she’s here she lives around the corner, so I see her nearly every day. Twice a year I go to Mumbai, where Arun grew up and his brother still lives. I have caftans made there for my beachwear company, so I go to supervise production."

Shane Warne

Hurley got engaged to Australian cricket star Shane Warne in 2011 after a whirlwind courtship, but they split up two years later.

"It was a very sad time for both of us," Hurley told Hello! in 2014. "Love isn't a switch that you can turn on or off at will and of course I still love him—we are part of each other's history."

So they remained, the Austin Powers star telling You three years later, "Shane is still a good friend; we were texting each other last night. Damian loves Shane’s three kids, so we’ll always be connected to each other in one way or another."

And Warne only had kind words about his ex-fiancée during a 2018 appearance on the U.K.'s Lorraine.

"When we were together we both had a great time and unfortunately it didn’t work out," he said. "It wasn’t something that she did wrong or I did wrong. It was just one of those things that fizzled out. We’re still great friends now and we still keep in touch. You know, it was the happiest time in my life."

Sadly, Warne died in March 2022 of heart disease. He was 52.

"I feel like the sun has gone behind a cloud forever," Hurley wrote on Instagram at the time. "RIP my beloved Lionheart." 

Billy Ray Cyrus

Talking to Red magazine in the spring of 2019, Hurley acknowledged it would be "fantastic to fall in love with someone wonderful."

Five years later, she hard-launched her relationship with Billy Ray Cyrus in a joint Instagram post on Easter Sunday.

They met making the 2022 movie Christmas in Paradise and, according to Cyrus, definitely felt a spark before going their separate ways for two years.

Once his eight-month marriage to Australian singer Firerose ended in 2024, the Bedazzled actress reached out over text, Cyrus shared on The Ty Bentli Show April 24, 2025. And, while he didn't know where they were headed yet, "It’s been a long time since I’ve been this happy."