Why You Never Hear About Elizabeth Hurley Anymore

You know her from Austin Powers and from the tabloid headlines — Elizabeth Hurley has been a television and film fixture for quite some time. But in recent memory, this British bombshell has fallen out of the public eye. Her absence from the A-list has led many to wonder, "Where has she gone?" From an embarrassing divorce to a split from a famed cricket player and taking time off to raise her son, these are the reasons why Ms. Hurley has been out of sight.

Are you having a hard time spotting Hurley on the big screen or on the television? Look no further than her Instagram account. It's simply lit up with racy images of the star in various bathing suits and in sexy lingerie. She often poses across the bed with her backside up, showcasing thong underwear — as in the case of a smoldering July 2017 post, in which Hurley posed topless except for a pair of frilly thong underwear. Many of her other snaps support her swimsuit collection, Elizabeth Hurley Beach, which launched in 2005. Beyond the mind-blowing photos, it's hard not to ignore Hurley's stunning body and face. She hasn't aged.

"If you've got time to think about aging, then you're not busy enough," she told People in 2015. "Being busy and interested is the key to being attractive. Narcissistic bores who stare at themselves in the mirror for hours are the dullest people on earth." 

She's certainly giving the term "Instagram model" a whole new meaning. 

If you search hard enough, one can find Hurley as the star of E!'s scripted series, The Royals. She plays Queen Helena, who is often vicious and ruthless in her actions and tongue. When asked why her character is so vile, Hurley told Variety, "I think it's like a physical pain to her when people don't do what she wants and that's what she's fighting with the whole time because her children won't do anything she wants them to do so there's a lot of friction from the get go."

So often, Hurley plays the bubbly beauty in roles that are certainly positive. And playing the villain this time around has been good for her. "I starting off playing ingenues like everyone does, but I segued into playing bad quite early on, and I have to say, I'm better at bad," Hurley quipped. "I felt a little guilty that I was so mean to the girls. I'm vile! But it would be a bit boring if she took up crochet!"

The fourth season of The Royals is underway and should be returning this winter. 

Hurley's quick divorce from Arun Nayer didn't bring positive press to her name in 2011. A judge agreed the short-lived union was "broken down irretrievably," according to The Daily Mail. The entire matter was dissolved within six weeks.

As Hurley's in-laws indicated, the marriage was anything but easy to navigate. In fact, Nayer's father, Vinod Nayer, voiced his opinion saying, "We had no idea Arun's marriage was on the rocks. I'm hoping that now Arun will get back home," according to The Mirror. Hurley reportedly caught issue with Vinod over their lavish Indian wedding back in 2007. "Liz and Arun treated us very shabbily and we were pushed into the background like poor relations," he said. "I knew she (Liz) was very ambitious, but I never realized just how important fame and attention is to her. This has broken my heart."

There's no love lost in this family. Hurley and Nayar had only been married for four years and together for seven.

Before Hurley was busy living the life of a queen on television, her private life was falling apart. In 2010, her four-year marriage to ex-husband Nayar was crumbling under the intense scrutiny of the press. To stop the spread of lies, she took to Twitter to brush off speculation she was cheating on Nayar. The drama started when she was photographed kissing cricket star Shane Warne.  

"Not a great day. For the record, my husband Arun and I separated a few months ago. Our close family & friends were aware of this," Hurley tweeted, according to People. Warne had to do some damage control on his own marriage saying in a personal blog, "Sadly and unfortunately, Simone and I split up a while ago, our close friends and family were informed at that time," Warne said per People. "It is a private matter so we did not make it public. We remain friends and will continue to be good parents."

Not long after Hurley's divorce was made public, she was engaged to Warne, reports People. Warne is the father of three kids and Hurley already has a son, Damian. Adding kids to her life was a conversation starter. "I've added three more children [to my life]," Hurley quipped to People in 2012. While things seemed perfectly good for the couple, their engagement had ended by 2013. But was another man to blame?

On the Australian version of I'm a Celebrity (via The Sun), Warne said their relationship began to buckle over the "sleep overs" Hurley would allegedly have with ex-boyfriend Hugh Grant. "It's hard on your new relationship when you're really good friends with the exes," Warne said. "Elizabeth was really good friends with Hugh, who is like her best friend. Hugh Grant — best friend." Grant and Hurley dated for 13 years.

"When I used to go back to Australia, if she wasn't leaving London, he'd come and spend the weekend at the house," Warne said of Grant. "I went, 'I tell you what. Tell him to come when I'm there. I knew Hugh before I knew you, so just tell him to come over.' But she said, 'Oh no, he feels uncomfortable.'" 

In 2011, Hurley was cast in the NBC drama Wonder Woman. Hurley was tapped to play the nemesis in the television show. "Thrilled to be doing the NBC pilot Wonder Woman," Hurley tweeted at the time (via Entertainment Weekly). "I'll be playing the evil villain. Can't wait." Her character was a pharmacist who sold drugs that made people stronger. Her mission was to build an army powerful enough to take down Wonder Woman.

While the show certainly created a lot of buzz, it wasn't picked up by NBC. Thus, making Wonder Woman a notch on Hurley's failure belt. Only a few people were lucky enough to see the pilot. But as one critic for Flickering Myth wrote, "It was both dated, in terms of content, and ahead of its time in concept. We didn't really lose anything by it not being commissioned into a series." Ouch!

In 2005, Hurley announced she was taking an extended leave of absence from acting to focus on family and to raise son Damian Hurley. He is from Hurley's previously relationship with Steve Bing. "I'm not going to do movies for now," she told The New York Post (via People). "I don't want to leave my son for such long periods of time. This trip to New York is three days away from him, but a movie is three months, and I've decided not to do that until he's older. I want to be there for him." According to her IMDb resume, Hurley did a project in 2004 and didn't do anything else until 2010.

Speaking with Closer magazine in 2017, Hurley said she didn't regret taking time off. "Looking after my son became my No. 1 task, and it was a joy to have someone else on whom to focus," she said. "I was 36 and had been worrying about myself for quite long enough. "I stopped doing movies and TV for the first eight years of his life, and I don't regret it for a moment. I always put him first."

Damian is now 15 and is certainly coming into his own. He's taking up acting like his mother. In fact, he appeared in the most recent season of The Royals. "Everybody loved him, they promised him a part 'one day,' and suddenly this day came," Hurley revealed on Today. She was admittedly nervous over Damian's acting skills, but he made her proud. "He was a knock-out when he was shooting," Hurley beamed with joy.

When asked what advice his famous mother shared, Damien said, "Learn your lines and don't be annoying." And while his education remains his priority, he's already got his eyes on more acting down the line. "I'm obsessed," he said.

Since resuming her career in 2010, Hurley has only had a handful of projects. Those include a 14-episode arc on Gossip Girl from 2011 to 2012 and her current series The Royals, now heading into its fourth season. But she's also got some failed projects beyond the ill-fated Wonder Woman reboot. She also starred in the 2014 Russian thriller Viktor.

Viktor, which co-starred Gerard Depardieu, follows the tale of a man returning to Moscow after being jailed for an art heist. Instead of finding a loving family he left behind, he learns his son was murdered and works to uncover those details. Hurley plays his wife, Alexandra.

The film made virtually no splash or ripple in the movie industry or with fans, it seems. It has a zero score on Rotten Tomatoes. A New York Times review called it a "sluggish" revenge drama that doesn't "set the screen aflame."

Could Hurley's choices in attire be keeping her up at night? According to an Us Weekly interview about an awful (and embarrassing) wardrobe malfunction, that certainly may be the case. As she tells the site, her dress bust wide open on the set of The Royals leaving her feeling exposed.

"The zipper just broke!" Hurley raged about the fashion flub in front of the cast and crew. "The entire dress opened and I was just in unattractive nude underwear." Because of the mishap, she's swearing off certain types of garments. "I won't wear anything with a zipper down it ever again," she said. "You never think it will happen — it does happen!"