Hugh Grant got candid about being a father to five children on Thursday, revealing that his home life is “noisy“ and “unbearable”.
The British charmer brought his signature dry wit to The Kelly Clarkson Show, where the usually private actor opened up about living with five young kids and the challenges of fatherhood.
When Kelly asked if his children climb him like a jungle gym, he sweetly replied with a smile on his face.
“I love a bit of that,“ he began. “I mean, there’s a lot to dread ’cause I’m old, and it’s noisy, and it’s unbearable.“
“And I do a lot of hiding in the loo. I do a lot of sleeping in there now,“ he joked. “There’s a lock, but they’ve pretty much broken it now.”
Ultimately, Hugh explained that he actually loves being surrounded by his kids. “It is nice… I’m going home tonight, and you know, let’s face it, the bit where they jump in your arms. The 6-year-old, you know, she calls it her chimpanzee hug. I quite like that,“ he said.
© NBCHe got emotional after sharing this story, telling Kelly, “I’ve made myself cry”.
The Love Actually star shares daughters Lulu, eight, Blue, six, and son John Mungo, 12, with his wife, Anna Eberstein. He also shares his daughter Tabitha Xiao Xi, 13, and son Felix Chang Hong, 11, with his ex-partner, Tinglan Hong.
Despite his jokes about fatherhood being “unbearable”, it’s clear that Hugh loves his family; he shared in an interview with Marie Claire in 2020 that he misses them while away filming.
© NBC“You had your family with you, which was, I think, very sensible,“ Hugh said to his The Undoing co-star Nicole Kidman in the interview.
“I thought, ‘Oh, fantastic opportunity to get away from my screaming children.‘ I left everyone in London. And then, as soon as I got to New York, each time I came out to film, I missed so much. It was, it was awful.”
Hugh revealed Lulu and Blue’s names for the first time on October 29, in an appearance on Jimmy Kimmel Live, explaining how they got their unusual monikers.
© Stephane Cardinale – Corbis“We thought it might be nice for her when she was older if she could say in bars that her middle name is Danger, so we named her Lulu Danger Grant,“ he said on his eight-year-old.
“We asked her elder brother when she was on the way: ‘There’s a new baby coming along, what should we call her?‘” he remembered. “He said, ‘Kevin‘ because that was his favorite Minion.”
© John PhillipsThe parents told their son to think of another idea, which prompted him to name her Blue, “because it was his favorite color,“ Hugh said.
Hugh married his wife Anna in 2018; she is a Swedish producer who previously worked for ESPN.
