News | Entertainment
21 Jan 2026 20:54
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
     21 Jan: Ansel Elgort has quietly become a father
     21 Jan: Finn Wolfhard used his SNL hosting debut to poke fun at the fact that he and his co-stars are still often viewed as "the kids from Stranger Things"
     21 Jan: Sophie Turner admits that her acting career "stalled" because she had children at an early age
     21 Jan: Golda Rosheuvel based her Bridgerton character on her late mother
     21 Jan: Hayden Panettiere found writing her memoir to be a "therapeutic experience"
     21 Jan: Lamar Odom has been arrested and charged for driving under the influence (DUI) in Las Vegas
     21 Jan: Melissa Gilbert has asked a judge to keep her husband Timothy Busfield "protected" in prison amid his child sex abuse charges
     Top Stories

    RUGBY RUGBY
    Black Sticks women's coach Phil Burrows is eager to see internal competition at this week's four-team international tournament in Dunedin More...


    BUSINESS BUSINESS
    Pic's Peanut Butter is boasting huge financial success, with sales reaching 40-million dollars More...



     Today's News

    Entertainment:
    Ansel Elgort has quietly become a father 20:40

    National:
    Rob Hirst was not the figurehead of Midnight Oil – but he was its backbone 20:17

    Entertainment:
    Finn Wolfhard used his SNL hosting debut to poke fun at the fact that he and his co-stars are still often viewed as "the kids from Stranger Things" 20:10

    National:
    As Trump’s threats over Greenland escalate, will Europe use its ‘trade bazooka’? 20:07

    Entertainment:
    Sophie Turner admits that her acting career "stalled" because she had children at an early age 19:40

    Entertainment:
    Golda Rosheuvel based her Bridgerton character on her late mother 19:10

    Environment:
    The wild weather's rapidly evolving - with more downpours on the way 18:57

    Basketball:
    The Breakers need officials in basketball's Aussie NBL to do them a favour, after losing American forward Rob Baker to a season-ending knee injury 18:57

    Entertainment:
    Hayden Panettiere found writing her memoir to be a "therapeutic experience" 18:40

    Basketball:
    The Breakers hump day form remains a talking point heading into their latest fixture in basketball's ANBL tonight 18:37


     News Search






    Power Search


    © 2026 New Zealand City Ltd