No mother and son have been closer than Damian Hurley and his model mother Liz.
Their lives have always been remarkably intertwined with Damian taking hundreds of bikini pictures to support his mother’s swimwear business, and even casting her in the 2024 film Strictly Confidential, his directorial debut.
However two sources in their circle now say that ‘a little distance’ is finally emerging between the two.
Partly this is because Damian moved out into his own place in Earl’s Court, west London, earlier this year – a move which came just after Liz, 60, fell head over heels for American singer Billy Ray Cyrus.
She’s now spending lots of time with Billy Ray, including at his ranch in Tennessee. ‘Liz is very much in the honeymoon phase,’ says one. ‘And perhaps Damian would sooner see her alone.’
She and Damian are still ‘best friends’ but I hear that they are no longer joined at the hip socially.
‘They now go out without each other, and Damian is starting to carve his own path. I’ve even heard that they have butted heads on occasion,’ says a source.
Now 23 years old, and a successful model in his own right, it is surely time for ‘Master Damian’ to cut the apron strings a little.
Liz Hurley, 60, and her 23-year-old son Damian have always been remarkably intertwined, but sources in their circle says ‘a little distance’ is emerging between them
This week Hurley was posing on Instagram in an orange bikini, wishing her followers: ‘Happy Tuesday’ and Damian was the first to comment – with five red hearts
One friend observes: ‘Damian has never doubted his genius or his beauty thanks to the way that he was raised by Liz. He has learned a belief from her that he’s the best of the best and deserves only the best.’
The friend adds that Liz’s ex-husband Arun Nayar is the man Damian regards as his father. His biological dad was the late heir and film producer Steve Bing, who cruelly dumped Liz when she got pregnant. She later had to take a DNA test before Bing acknowledged paternity.
‘Damian is really close to Arun still,’ I’m told.
While he may be forging his own path, Damian is still his mum’s biggest cheerleader. This week Hurley was posing on Instagram in an orange bikini, wishing her followers: ‘Happy Tuesday’ and Damian was the first to comment – with five red hearts.
In an interview last month, Hurley said she is hoping to make another film with her son. ‘Damian and I are developing a movie, also a pilot for a young adult TV show,’ she said. ‘I love working with my child. He works unbelievably hard. He writes all the time. I’ve got a script [of his] to read on my iPad for the flight tomorrow.’
She added that she had been dating Billy Ray – the hirsute Achy Breaky Heart singer and father of pop star Miley Cyrus – for nearly a year. ‘Billy Ray is fabulous. We’re very happy, very happy.’
Many of Hurley’s friends are still gobsmacked by her romance with Billy Ray, however. The pair met on the set of a film in 2021, and reconnected while he was going through a divorce.
They apparently spent the summer together at her house in Herefordshire.
‘He loves England,’ said Hurley. ‘The weather is nicer here in the summer than it is in Tennessee. He lives 40 minutes outside of Nashville. It’s so beautiful. Funnily enough, it actually looks a lot like England. Probably the equivalent of Surrey.’
She added: ‘Damian and Miley have met. Billy’s kids are great and Billy has spent a lot of time with Damian. Everyone loves everyone, it’s lovely.’
Hurley hard-launched her romance with Billy Ray Cyrus at Easter after they met on set of a film in 2021. But many of her friends are said to be gobsmacked by the romance
Billy Ray Cyrus and the Hurleys at the National Television Awards in London last monthÂ
Hurley hard-launched the romance with a post this Easter of the two of them in each others’ arms.
The film they made together in 2021, Christmas in Paradise, was panned by almost everyone who saw it, but although he’s since divorced one wife and married and divorced another, there is talk that there was a ‘spark’ when they were filming in the Caribbean.
Sources in America say that Billy Ray’s first wife Tish, 58, to whom he was then married, ‘had her thoughts and suspicions’ that her husband was getting entangled with Liz, but said: ‘Billy Ray flat out denied it.’
The source said: ‘They got very close on the set and seeing that they are together now is a slap in the face for Tish, but it also confirms that she was likely right about her suspicions. They never stopped being in contact.’
Tish and Billy Ray officially divorced in April 2022 after nearly three decades of marriage. In court papers, she said they had not lived together since 2020, so by the time he was making Christmas in Paradise with Hurley they were separated.
The couple had daughters Miley, 32, Noah, 25, and son Braison, 31. Billy Ray also adopted Tish’s daughter Brandi, 38, and son Trace, 36, from a previous marriage.
Tish has spoken of ‘disrespect’ on both sides in the marriage and they had previously filed for divorce – but reconciled – in 2010 and 2013. In 2022 they announced that they were divorcing with a joint statement saying: ‘After 30 years, five wonderful children and a lifetime of memories, we have decided to go our separate ways, not with sadness, but with love in our hearts.
Damian moved out into his own place in Earl’s Court, west London, earlier this year – a move which came just after Hurley and Cyrus’s relationship began
‘We grew up together, we formed a family that we can be very proud of and now it’s time to create our own paths.’
Billy Ray’s path was with another woman – the singer Firerose, 37, real name Johanna Rose Hodges, whom he first met in 2007 on the set of teen hit Hannah Montana when she was 22. They started dating in May 2022 and were married in October 2023, before splitting in May 2024.
It was a bitter and public break up, during which each accused the other of verbal and emotional abuse. Court documents show that Firerose walked away with $0 – literally nothing.
Meanwhile, Billy Ray was estranged from his children, and adopted son Trace – a recovering alcoholic – said that he had been concerningly absent from all of their lives.
Two days after a chaotic performance at Trump’s inauguration, which had numerous technical problems, Trace posted a message on Instagram asking his dad to get help.
He wrote: ‘Sadly the man that I wanted so desperately to be just like, I barely recognise now. It seems this world has beaten you down and it’s become obvious to everyone but you.
‘You may be upset with me for posting this, but I really could care less at this point. Me and the girls have been genuinely worried about you for years but you’ve pushed all of us away.’
He went on: ‘You’re not healthy Dad and everyone is noticing it. As I write this with tears in my eyes I hope you realise this message only comes from a place of love and also fear that the world may lose you far too soon. I don’t know what you’re struggling with exactly but I think I have a pretty good idea and I’d love to help you if you would open up and receive the help.’
A Cyrus family source said that, contrary to Trace’s post, the singer was ‘completely sober’ during the performance, adding: ‘Billy Ray is healthy and happy and doesn’t do any substances. The man doesn’t drink. He doesn’t do drugs.’
Soon afterwards, Billy Ray appealed for ‘the start of healing’ for his family. He wrote: ‘Sunday callin. Giving thanks for the California Rain. Praying for the brokenhearted and their pain. Praying for my family. For my children… sons and daughters… and their mother. Let this moment be the start of healing for us all. The past does not equal the future.’
He has since reconciled with daughter Miley and seems to be trying to build a blended family with Hurley, whose relationship with Damian – a ‘little distance’ notwithstanding – surely provides the happiest parent-child blueprint.
