Elizabeth Hurley reveals she and her ex Hugh Grant are ‘best friends’

Elizabeth Hurley has revealed that she has stayed good friends with her ex Hugh Grant – and the pair remain close despite their busy lives. 

The model and actress tells The Sydney Morning Herald this week that the former couple always keep tabs on one another despite splitting back in 2000. 

‘We’re very good friends. He’s married. He’s got five children. His career is amazing,’ the 59-year-old said.

‘But I always know what he’s doing and he knows what I’m doing. We’ll be best friends for ever, but he’s got young kids, so he’s busy.’ 

The pals were last spotted together attending the London screening of her latest film Strictly Confidential in May, where they chatted happily together like old times. 

The Austin Powers star previously discussed her ‘strong’ friendship with the Notting Hill actor, 63. 

She told People Magazine: ‘I’m still extremely good friends with Hugh, 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. ‘

‘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.’ 

She did add that you have to be respectful of each other’s partners and children and that you can’t live in ‘a lovely, rosy, mist of the past’.

The beauty explained that you have to ‘move with the times’ and be ‘very respectful of the present’.

Elizabeth and Hugh have remained good friends over the years following their split over 20 years ago and endured scandal together.  

Their relationship made headlines when Grant cheated on Hurley with prostitute Divine Brown in 1995.

At the time, Hugh was famously arrested near Sunset Boulevard in Los Angeles after paying around £45 (AU$86) for Divine to perform oral sex on him in his car. 

Police arrested him and sex worker Divine after nabbing their illicit liaison in the parked car. 

Hugh was sentenced to a fine of USD$1,000 and ordered to attend an education programme about AIDS. 

Divine was sentenced to 180 days in prison for engaging in lewd conduct in a public place, and had also violated her probation for previous prostitution charges.

In a statement at the time Hugh said: ‘Last night I did something completely insane. I have hurt people I love and embarrassed people I work with. For both things I am more sorry than I can ever possibly say.’

Divine, real name Stella Marie Thompson, went on to make around US$1million through the publicity surrounding the scandal. 

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Following the scandal, Hugh and Elizabeth remained together for a number of years, before ending their 13-year romance in 2000.

The star previously revealed she still speaks to Hugh ‘quite a lot’.

She said her former partner is still her ‘go-to person’, as he is a reliable source when she needs career advice.

Elizabeth told People, ‘The last time I spoke to Hugh would be this morning. I speak to him quite a lot. I was asking him his advice on a script I just received.

‘I still go to him for advice on scripts, even though he’s very happily married with five children and I’m very happy in my own life, there’s still certain bits we crossover with very well.’

Elizabeth added: ‘And asking advice about work, he’s still my go-to person.’   

Hugh is now happily married to television producer, Anna Elisabet Eberstein, after the pair tied the knot in 2018.