LIZ’S BIG COVER-UP
No more sunbathing, says actress, 55, who’s made a career out of beachwear
GIVEN how enthusiastically she’s posed for bikini snaps to sell her glamorous swimsuit range, it will perhaps come as a surprise to learn that Liz Hurley is giving up sunbathing.
The decision could be a little problematic for her business, though she assures fans she’ll still be enjoying soaking up the rays now and then, albeit in a large hat and some factor 0 suncream.
Miss Hurley, 55, used to devote countless hours to acquiring a tan and wishes she had instead kept herself in the shade. Her change of heart comes after seeing her friends battle skin cancer. She said in Grazia magazine: ‘I regret ever sunbathing and now use SPF 0 and wear a big sun hat. I’ve lost count of how many of my contemporaries have had cancerous cells removed.’
The actress is known for sharing pictures with her 1.7million social media followers of herself in tiny bikinis from her Elizabeth Hurley Beach collection.
In February she caused a stir by vowing not to be seen in a bikini in public again – though it wasn’t clear if this included her modelling her own swimwear. She said at the time: ‘I like to cover up a lot. I certainly wouldn’t walk round a public beach parading in a bikini any more. I’m much too old.’
In her Grazia interview Miss Hurley, who is mother to model Damian, 18, also revealed how lockdown had proved a boon. ‘Lockdown was liberating because I didn’t constantly check emails and panic about deadlines,’ she explained. ‘I only washed my hair when I needed to shoot some beachwear or support a charity.’
She added: ‘I loathe staying indoors when it’s good weather, but I’m lucky to have some land, so I did at least 40 hours’ manual labour a week and bullied everyone else into helping me.’
Presumably she was careful to keep covered up as she toiled away. Last year when in Los Angeles she said that a key part of maintaining a youthful complexion into her 50s was staying out of the sun between 9am and 6pm – or deploying a large umbrella if necessary.