How Elizabeth Hurley’s son Damian REALLY feels about his beloved mum’s shock romance with Billy Ray Cyrus as pals claim couple are ‘set to marry’

They have a famously close relationship, with pair saying they are more like ‘siblings’ than parent and child.

And it seems that Elizabeth Hurley and her son Damian are in agreement when it comes to her new boyfriend Billy Ray Cyrus.

The actress, 59, and the controversial musician, 63, sent shockwaves across the internet on Easter Sunday as they announced their relationship to the world with a cosy Instagram snap.

But despite fans being less than impressed by Liz’s latest choice in partner, Damian, 23, is reportedly a big fan of Billy Ray and glad to see his mother all loved-up.

A source told Hello! magazine: ‘Damian loves Billy Ray and is delighted to see his mother happy and in love’.

The nepo baby first met Billy when the country music legend was cast as Elizabeth’s love interest in the 2022 film Paradise in Christmas.

And friends close to the mother and son previously revealed that Damian was instantly impressed with Billy and spotted his chemistry with Liz.

Speaking to The Sun last week, a source said: ‘Damian has met Billy and is a really big fan of his. They hit it off when they hung out on set.

‘All he wants is for his mum to be happy and he saw their spark straight away and is delighted they are now giving it a go.’

Despite Damian’s pals saying he is happy for his mum, they also added that they are worried their close bond might be a problem, due to Billy being estranged from his own children, including pop superstar Miley Cyrus. 

The friend added: ‘Damian has always been and will continue to be Liz’s number one. She has raised him alone for 23 years and his blessing is the most important thing to her.

‘In the past Liz’s relationship with Damian has taken its toll on some men. Billy is deep down a family man but is currently struggling with a number of issues.

‘Everyone is a bit worried that his own troubled relationship with his kids could impact Liz and Damian. The biggest fear is that Billy will want Damian to take more of a back seat.’

Damian – whose biological father Steve Bing died by suicide in 2020 – recently spent time with his mum and her new boyfriend at Billy Ray’s Tennessee home.

Sharing a slew of snaps posing up a storm inside the stables to Instagram at the weekend, he gushed: ‘Tennessee you have my hearttt’ with a rlove heart emoji.

While Liz also shared more loved-up photos with Billy Ray at his home on her own Instagram on Sunday night.

The new couple, who pals have claimed are set to marry, looked smitten as the country music star wrapped his arms around her.

Another photo saw them driving around his property together in a buggy with one of his family dogs.

Revealing the location of the photos, Elizabeth captioned them: ‘Tennessee weekend [red heart emoji]’.

The photos come soon after it was reported Elizabeth could reportedly be set to marry new boyfriend Billy Ray amid their unlikely whirlwind romance.

They sent the internet into a frenzy on Easter Sunday as they announced their relationship to the world with a snap of them canoodling by a fence in a field.

Elizabeth’s pals have since told The Sun that ‘marriage could be on the card’ for the pair, who despite their very different backgrounds share similar interests which has proven to be the secret to their romance.

They told the publication: ‘Everyone is saying Billy and Liz are world’s apart, but actually they are very similar. They have a lot in common and have the same interests’.

‘Billy is also very much her type, he has a real twinkle in his eye and a naughty streak that she can’t resist.’

This would not be Elizabeth’s first time down the aisle, after wedding multimillionaire Arun Nayar in 2007, with their two lavish ceremonies spanned two continents, with a civil service in an English castle and then a traditional Hindu ceremony in India.

The actress and the textile heir eventually divorced in 2011, but have remained good friends ever since, often appearing at public events together.

During a previous interview with the Daily Mail’s YOU magazine in 2018, Liz said: ‘My husband and I had the most amicable divorce in the world and my lawyer said it was the cheapest case she’d ever handled because neither of us wanted anything.’

It comes after Billy Ray opened up about his new relationship with Elizabeth for the first time while appearing on Apple Music Country’s The Ty Bentli Show. 

Less than a week after hard launching his romance with the Austin Powers actress he revealed how he found love again following his divorce with Firerose last year. 

While navigating a difficult period in his life, the Achy Breaky Heart crooner recalled receiving an unexpected text message from his former Christmas in Paradise. 

‘I felt like, ‘Wow, can life get any harder? Can it get any tougher?’ For me, at a certain point it was like, you can’t get knocked down any flatter than laying on your back when life is kicking you,’ he said. ‘And in this moment… a friend reached out.’ 

According to Billy Ray, Liz’s message read something 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.’ 

Upon getting her text, the father-of-five admitted he ‘didn’t even know the number.’

‘So, I text back, I go, “Who is this?” And it’s like, “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,’ he said. 

Although they hadn’t spoken in ‘two years’ shortly after wrapping their 2022 holiday film, Billy Ray instantly remembered ‘there was a chemistry’ between them on set during their ‘very few scenes together.’

‘We just laughed, and it was at a time I wasn’t laughing a lot,’ he noted. ‘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.’

Christmas in Paradise was shot in the Caribbean, not long after he separated from ex-wife Tish in April 2022 after 28 years of marriage.

Billy Ray proceeded to describe Liz as a ‘a great human being’ and insisted he would have been satisfied just being friends.

‘She’s so impressively brilliant. She reminds me a lot of Dolly Parton. She’s a very smart businesswoman,’ he gushed. ‘If you can laugh together, you can make it through everything.’

Billy Ray also teased that there would be more photos of them coming since taking their relationship public on Easter with a sweet photo of him giving her a kiss on the cheek. 

‘There will be one coming where she’s kissing me because people have been saying, “Why’s he always kissing her?” Unfortunately when I see her, when she puts her cheek out there, I don’t know what happens, I just kiss it,’ he mused.

The singer raved that their relationship has ‘been beautiful.’ 

Billy Ray also said he loves Liz’s son, Damian ‘a lot’, saying: ‘It’s great that God brought them into my life when he did. It’s just a good thing. It’s been a long time since I’ve been this happy.’

A source told Us Weekly that the pair ‘bonded over life experiences’ as they’ve ‘both been through a lot in life’ adding that the relationship is ‘very recent.’   

‘They really understand each other and Liz is a very compassionate person, which Billy Ray adores,’ the insider added.

The actress and model has been spending time with Cyrus at his Nashville farm, as they both enjoy ‘the low-key, nature-loving lifestyle.’

The pair have ‘just been enjoying life together and wanted to make it public. They have nothing to hide and are very happy.’  

Elizabeth previously confessed that ‘the opportunity to work with Billy Ray’ was one of the main reasons she shot the Lionsgate sequel to the 2021 flick Father Christmas is Back opposite onscreen dad Kelsey Grammer (who’s only 11 years older than her).

‘I’ve long been a fan of [Cyrus],’ Hurley gushed to MovieWeb in 2022.

‘My son [Damian] was the age where he used to watch Hannah Montana all the time, so of course, I used to watch it with him. I knew Billy Ray really well from that, and of course, some of his music. That was a big plus.’

Indeed, the two-time Grammy winner portrayed widowed single father Robby Ray Stewart in the Disney Channel series from 2006-2011 opposite his real-life estranged daughter Miley Cyrus.

Their relationship shocked fans, coming just months after Billy’s whirlwind divorce from singer Firerose in August, following a dramatic break-up that played out both publicly and privately. 

However, new reports claim that it was Billy and Firerose’s split that laid the foundation for his romance with Liz, with the singer said to have reached out to the model for help during the ‘really hard time’.