News | Entertainment
17 Feb 2026 0:35
NZCity News
NZCity CalculatorReturn to NZCity

  • Start Page
  • Personalise
  • Sport
  • Weather
  • Finance
  • Shopping
  • Jobs
  • Horoscopes
  • Lotto Results
  • Photo Gallery
  • Site Gallery
  • TVNow
  • Dating
  • SearchNZ
  • NZSearch
  • Crime.co.nz
  • RugbyLeague
  • Make Home
  • About NZCity
  • Contact NZCity
  • Your Privacy
  • Advertising
  • Login
  • Join for Free

  •   Home > News > Entertainment

    Hugh Grant has taken up cooking in lockdown

    The 'Love Actually' star has enjoyed getting into the kitchen now he is home more because of the coronavirus pandemic, but has recalled how it once went "badly wrong" when he tried to cook a chicken


    He said: "I like being in the kitchen now. I like to put on an apron, I like the glass of wine. I don't mind tossing, frying the onions a bit, that's fine. I did have a go at a chicken and it came out very badly wrong."

    And the 60-year-old actor didn't even realise he had lost his sense of taste because of coronavirus, because he had just thought his food had no taste.

    He added: "It was a mild flu and then this weird thing where you lose your taste, but it was lockdown and I was doing the cooking for the first time in 30 years - and none of my food tastes of anything anyway, so we didn't notice that we didn't have any taste for days and days."

    However, there's one thing that frustrates him about plating up.

    Speaking on Live! With Kelly and Ryan, he shared: "I don't like touching food. It's disgusting."

    Meanwhile, Hugh previously revealed he had coronavirus in February.

    He said: "It started as just a very strange syndrome where I kept breaking into a terrible sweat. It was like a poncho of sweat, embarrassing really. Then my eyeballs felt about three sizes too big and this ... a feeling as though an enormous man was sitting on my chest, Harvey Weinstein or someone. By then people were just starting to talk about this as a symptom. And I started sniffing flowers, nothing. And you get more and more desperate. I started sniffing in garbage cans. You know, you want to sniff strangers' armpits because you just can't smell anything. I eventually went home and I sprayed my wife's Chanel No. 5 directly into my face. Couldn't smell a thing, but I did go blind."

    © 2026 Bang Showbiz, NZCity

     Other Entertainment News
     16 Feb: Steven Spielberg has donated $25,000 to help James Van Der Beek's family
     16 Feb: Michelle Obama got 10 new ear piercings in one sitting
     16 Feb: Margot Robbie has credited Rachel McAdams with helping her land all her major roles
     16 Feb: Daisy Lowe is pregnant with her second child
     16 Feb: Ashley Roberts wrongly announced Dick Van Dyke had died instead of James Van Der Beek
     16 Feb: Jesy Nelson's petition with Parliament, to demand all newborn babies born in the UK are tested for Spinal Muscular Atrophy (SMA), will receive a response from the UK government after it was signed more than 66,000 times
     16 Feb: The FBI has revealed "new identifying details" about a suspect in Nancy Guthrie's disappearance
     Top Stories

    RUGBY RUGBY
    A Super Rugby referee clanger in round one More...


    BUSINESS BUSINESS
    Now's the time to buy for those looking to get on the property ladder More...



     Today's News

    International:
    Former FBI agents say looking closer at Nancy Guthrie's social circle may be key to finding her 23:07

    Entertainment:
    Steven Spielberg has donated $25,000 to help James Van Der Beek's family 21:57

    Business:
    Now's the time to buy for those looking to get on the property ladder 21:57

    Entertainment:
    Michelle Obama got 10 new ear piercings in one sitting 21:27

    Environment:
    Weather warnings are set to fade away tonight 21:17

    Entertainment:
    Margot Robbie has credited Rachel McAdams with helping her land all her major roles 20:57

    Entertainment:
    Daisy Lowe is pregnant with her second child 20:27

    General:
    How cheating allegations have rocked the curling teams at the Olympics 20:17

    Entertainment:
    Ashley Roberts wrongly announced Dick Van Dyke had died instead of James Van Der Beek 19:57

    Entertainment:
    Jesy Nelson's petition with Parliament, to demand all newborn babies born in the UK are tested for Spinal Muscular Atrophy (SMA), will receive a response from the UK government after it was signed more than 66,000 times 19:27


     News Search






    Power Search


    © 2026 New Zealand City Ltd