Elizabeth Hurley has brushed off criticism of her close relationship with ex-boyfriend Hugh Grant, calling him “my best friend” and saying he is as important to her as her family.

Her comments come after her former fiance Shane Warne revealed his discomfort over her friendship with Hugh, which saw him stay with her for the weekend when Shane  was out the country.

Liz Hurley and Shane Warne
Liz and Shane were engaged from 2011 to 2013 (Lewis Whyld/PA)

Speaking on ITV’s Lorraine, Liz said: “I mean, we were together for 13 years and, yes, we have been apart for 16 years now so it is definitely longer. But yeah, he’s still my best friend and he’s very important to me.”

She continued: “I think families change. I think they used to be much more insular but now friends become as important as some family members sometimes. Not your very close family but, you know, for distant cousins that you never see, of course your friends are much more immediate.”

Liz and Hugh dated from 1987 to 2000, with Liz even standing by him when he was arrested for soliciting the services of a prostitute in 1995. He is the godfather to her 13-year-old son Damian with Steve Bing.

Liz Hurley and Hugh Grant
Liz’s profile grew after she was papped in this Versace dress with Hugh (Michael Stephens/PA)

Opening up about her family dynamic, Liz revealed Damian “loves” joining her on set of her TV series The Royals.

She said: “We shoot right across the the summer holidays so actually there’s not a lot of choice in that but thank goodness he enjoys it even more than I do. So he sets my alarm every morning, he gets out my clothes for me, he runs my lines with me, he bullies me all day long.”

There’s even a chance we could see Damian’s name rolling somewhere in the credits alongside his mother one day.

Hugh Grant Liz Hurley
Hugh and Liz are still incredibly close and he is godfather to Damian (Joel Ryan/AP/PA)

She said: “I don’t know if he will be an actor. I think he will be in showbusiness. He might be behind the camera.

“He’s quite despotic when he’s making his own little mini movies, he’s quite good at it. I think he wants to run a studio, maybe employ his ageing geriatric mother. We’ll see, you never know.”

Liz has been getting her own despotic experience recently, playing Queen Helena, the scheming matriarch of a hedonistic fictional British royal family, in the E! series The Royals.

Liz Hurley Damian Hurley
Liz and her son Damian, who likes to lay out her clothes in the morning (Nick Ansell/PA)

But she has had to deal with Shane revealing details of their friendship during his stint in the jungle on the Australian version of I’m A Celebrity.

He said: “It’s hard on your new relationship when you’re really good friends with the exes.

“Elizabeth was really good friends with Hugh, who is like her best friend. When I used to go back to Australia, if she wasn’t leaving London, he’d come and spend the weekend at the house.”