Jess Battison
*CONTENT WARNING: Mention of suicide*
Elizabeth Hurley's son Damian has praised his mom for being '800 parents in one' after raising him as a single parent.
The 21-year-old is the son of the actor and late businessman, Steve Bing.
However, Elizabeth, 58, raised Damian herself, without the father in his life.
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The Austin Powers star had a rather short-lived relationship with the mogul following her split from Hugh Grant in 2000.
Despite the absence of his father, Damian doesn’t feel as though he missed on anything growing up in a single-parent household.
When the model was born in 2002, Steve contested his paternity and claimed that his and Elizabeth's relationship had been non-exclusive at the time.
However, a DNA test proved the mogul was Damian’s biological father - but he did not become a part of his life regardless.
Damian told German show Exclusiv: “Mum filled the role of 800 parents at the same time. We are so close. Sometimes like siblings.”
And the pair certainly do look alike.
Steve died in 2020 after jumping from the 27th floor of his Los Angeles apartment building.
Damian and his half-sister Kira Bonder (whose paternity Bing also contested) were cut out of his will following his death. This is as their biological grandfather appealed the inheritance on the grounds they were both born out of wedlock.
Damian is a filmmaker and model, following in the footsteps of his lookalike mom.
And Elizabeth previously told HELLO! about a promise she made him when he was younger.
She said: “I just produced a movie called Strictly Confidential, which was written and directed by Damian.
“He started making mini-movies when he was very young - most of them starring me and other kind family friends - and I always promised him that I would be in his first real project, so I have a supporting role in this, too.”
The movie - said to have some rather raunchy scenes - is yet to be released.
She also opened up about the changes in her life when she became a mother.
Elizabeth said: “I was in my mid-30s when I had my son, so had been out in the big, bad world for some time already and therefore felt fine with taking nearly eight years off from filming so I could stay home with him.
“During that time, I started my swimwear business, Elizabeth Hurley Beach, moved to the country and fell in love with gardening again."
In previous Instagram posts, Damian called his mom his ‘partner in crime’.
If you’ve been affected by any of these issues and want to speak to someone in confidence, please don’t suffer alone. Call Samaritans for free on their anonymous 24-hour phone line on 116 123.
For US readers, you can dial the 24/7 National Suicide Prevention hotline at 1-800-273-8255 or go to SuicidePreventionLifeline.org.