Billy Ray Cyrus has finally opened up about his new romance with Elizabeth Hurley, just days after a cosy photo of the duo sent the world into overdrive.
The singer, 63, revealed he and Hurley, 59, reconnected after his divorce from Firerose last year in an upcoming interview on Apple Music Country’s The Ty Bentli Show.
In an excerpt from the chat via People, Cyrus explained he struck up a friendship with Hurley on the set of the 2022 film Christmas in Paradise shortly after separating from his ex-wife of 28 years, Tish Cyrus.
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“We did very few scenes together but the couple times we were in the same scene there was a chemistry there,” he said of Hurley.
“We just laughed, and it was at a time I wasn’t laughing a lot. The oddest part was first, how much we laughed. Second, I figured we were so different but in some very strange way we had way more in common than we had different.”
Cyrus said the pair didn’t speak for two years after the movie, and he entered a difficult period of his life.
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In a moment where he felt things couldn’t get “any harder”, a friend reached out via text.
At the time he “didn’t even know the number” of the person who text him, but said the message was along the lines of: “Hey, it looks like life might be a little bit tough and just wanted you to know I’m in your corner; you’ve got a friend in your corner.”
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After asking who it was, the mystery sender revealed herself to be Elizabeth Hurley.
“Of all the people to reach out to me in that second that maybe I needed most… this friend who made me laugh,” added Cyrus.
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Cyrus also said he loves Hurley’s son, Damian, 23, “a lot”.
“It’s great that God brought them into my life when he did. It’s been a long time since I’ve been this happy,” he concluded.
The new romance comes after it was reported last year that Cyrus, who has an estimated net worth of $16 million, had filed for divorce after just seven months of marriage to Aussie singer Firerose.
People reported it has obtained documents revealing Cyrus filed for divorce on May 22.
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The Achy Breaky Heart singer was previously married to Tish Cyrus. But Tish filed for divorce from Billy Ray in April 2022. They married back in 1993.
She is now married to Aussie actor Dominic Purcell.
Hurley meanwhile, was previously engaged to late cricketer Shane Warne and was married to businessman Arun Nayar from 2007 to 2011.
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