Elizabeth Hurley

Elizabeth Jane Hurley is an English actress and model born on 10 June 1965 in Basingstoke, Hampshire, England. The daughter of Angela Mary, a schoolteacher, and Roy Leonard Hurley, a major in the Royal Army Educational Corps, she grew up with an older sister and a younger brother. In her youth in Basingstoke, she attended The Costello School, became involved with punk fashion, and took ballet classes. After completing A-levels in English, Sociology, and Psychology in 1983, she studied dance and theatre at the London Studio Centre.

Hurley made her initial film appearance in Aria in 1987. During the late 1980s, she landed television roles in Inspector Morse, Rumpole of the Bailey, and the drama Christabel. Her major film break arrived in 1992 with her role in Passenger 57. She gained widespread public attention in 1994 when she accompanied her then-partner Hugh Grant to the London premiere of Four Weddings and a Funeral wearing a black Versace dress secured with gold safety pins. Hurley later produced two films for Grant's company, Simian Films: Extreme Measures in 1996 and Mickey Blue Eyes in 1999.

Her best-known film roles include Vanessa Kensington in the spy comedy Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery in 1997 and the Devil in Bedazzled in 2000. She also appeared in films such as EDtv, Serving Sara, and Dangerous Ground, and later acted in and produced the 2024 film Strictly Confidential. On television, she hosted the first series of Project Catwalk in 2006, played media mogul Diana Payne on Gossip Girl in 2011, and starred as Queen Helena in E!'s scripted series The Royals from 2015 to 2018. She played Morgan le Fay in Runaways in 2019 and served as a guest judge on RuPaul's Drag Race UK in 2021.

Hurley began her modelling career at age 29 after signing with Estée Lauder in 1995. She became a long-time representative for the cosmetics company, featuring in campaigns for fragrances including Pleasures, Sensuous, and Intuition. Over her career, she featured in advertisements for brands such as Jordache, Monsoon, and Lancel, appeared three times on the cover of British Vogue, and signed with TESS Management. In 2005, she launched her beachwear line, Elizabeth Hurley Beach, at Harrods, and created a capsule swimsuit collection for Mango in 2008.

Hurley was in a 13-year relationship with Hugh Grant that ended in 2000. She gave birth to her son, Damian Charles Hurley, in 2002 with American businessman Steve Bing. Hurley married Indian businessman Arun Nayar in 2007, and their divorce was granted in 2011. She was later engaged to Australian cricketer Shane Warne until 2013. In April 2025, she announced she was dating musician Billy Ray Cyrus. In July 2026, Hurley was involved in a High Court privacy case against Associated Newspapers.

Hurley has been active in charity work, serving as a prominent campaigner for Estée Lauder's breast cancer awareness initiative and a patron of the Elton John AIDS Foundation and the City Veterans Network. She has supported The Prince's Trust, the End Hunger Network, and ARK children's charity. Politically, she expressed support for the United Kingdom leaving the European Union ahead of the 2016 referendum.