Liz Hurley spent years as a scared recluse after her son was born
THE seemingly outgoing Liz Hurley has revealed she didn't leave the house for several years "unless I was being paid to do so".
The 56-year-old said she became a recluse following the birth of her son Damian, 19, with US businessman Steve Bing in 2002.
She explained: "I couldn't bear people listening to me, staring at me, watching me. I felt vulnerable and scared the entire time."
Her loss of privacy was a "terrible shock to the system" when she became a household name, she told Style Magazine.
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When asked how being a celebrity had changed her, she said: "If I'm ever with somebody who, you know, is just normal, they are so shocked by my behaviour. I'm constantly telling them, 'Keep your voice down!'" She also recalled her former boyfriend Hugh Grant, 61, being shocked when she told him she was stopping the car to get a coffee.
"He said: 'You went to a shop?
I've never seen you do that ever'."
Liz added: "Frankly, I could stay home and deadhead my roses for ever and it would be fine."