Elizabeth Hurley, 55, concludes her 10-day spree of bikini photos: 'Alas, my pretend vacation is drawing to a close'
Elizabeth Hurley isn’t letting the cold winter weather get her down.
The British model and actress, 55, took to social media on Sunday to conclude her “pretend vacation,” where she posted one swimsuit shot of herself per day as a means of coping with pandemic boredom.
Sporting nothing but a lime green bikini from her Elizabeth Hurley Beach swimwear line and a pair of sunglasses, Hurley basked in the sunshine in Sunday’s photo. The star was shown sipping a glass of champagne in front of the picturesque blue waters.
“Alas, my #pretendvacation is drawing to a close; time to return to the mud & fog of my beloved Herefordshire. Fingers crossed it will snow so it’ll be bikini time again. Just enough time to squeeze in a glass of ice-cold champagne before I pack,” she wrote, along with the hashtags “stay home” and “living through my camera roll.”
Hurley kicked off the faux-vacation last month, promising 10 straight days of bikini photos.
“Pretend vacation!” wrote Hurley. “I’m so fed up with being at home, I’m pretending I’m away and am living vicariously through my camera roll for the next 10 days.”
The first shot featured Hurley, sporting another bikini from her swimwear line, as she kicked her leg up and frolicked on a sandy beach in a throwback photo.
Prior to her “pretend vacation,” Hurley received some negative reactions after posting a particularly saucy shot of herself without a top on, which Good Morning Britain host Piers Morgan called “thirsty” and “creepy.”
The negative reaction to Hurley’s steamy snaps mirrors some responses to stars like Salma Hayek and Paulina Porizkova, who are also known for their frequent bikini photos. So what’s the root of the hostility toward stars joyously celebrating themselves?
“There is a fine line between jealousy, which is a competitive or hopeful feeling (‘Maybe I can look like that’) and envy, which drives our impulse to destroy. (‘You have something I want and there’s no hope of me getting it’),” psychotherapist Bethany Marshall recently told Yahoo Life. “What these images say is, ‘I control my life’ a position that historically, was not applied to women. It’s a type of freedom we can’t stop looking at.”
Marshall also said part of the backlash has to do with the age of the stars in the photos. It’s no coincidence that Hurley, Hayek and Porizkova are all in their 50s.
“Older women aren’t ‘supposed’ to be sexy — especially when they’re mothers,” said Marshall. “These photos are taboo to those who believe that beyond their childbearing years, women should hide their bodies, and if they don’t, they are vain.”
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