HUGH Grant isn’t against the idea of fatherhood — but the star admits he probably wouldn’t cope without the help of nannies.

The British actor thinks he’d be a good dad after spending so much time with the children of friends and family members has made him realise he could be a good dad.

“Ten years ago, I wouldn’t have thought about having children at all,” Grant, 49, told Parade magazine.

“But now I have so many nephews and nieces and cousins and godchildren, I like the thought. But that’s on the basis that I can leave after 10 minutes. I don’t know what it would be like 24 hours a day. I think I’d have a lot of nannies.

“I find I’m not as bad with children as I used to be. I see a lot of children over-parented now, by my standards. Over-adored, over-spoiled. I quite like the children left alone to get on with it.

“If you have a smothering parent, the effect it can apparently have on a child is to give them, in equal doses, a sense of too much self-esteem, because they are mummy’s little princess or prince, and low self-esteem.

“It affects future relationships. You want to repeat this smothering thing, and you are very adept at bringing people in to love you, love you, and as soon as they get close enough, you push them away. Then you bring them back and push them away again. You can go on torturing people like that for ages.”

WHAT’S stopping Hugh Grant from getting a girlfriend?

His love of golf, that’s what!

“When you say to a girl ‘I play golf’ her eyes glaze over,” says Hugh, who has previously dated Elizabeth Hurley and Elle Macpherson. “I do feel guilty about my golf.

“You know you’re a sad case when you spend your spare time reading books on putting or going on YouTube to watch slow motion golf swings.

“I’ll get out of bed in the middle of the night and practice my swing in front of a mirror. I’m obsessed and it’s destroying my life. Golf is an addiction.”

Hugh Grant says he’s “deeply spoiled” with his demands on movie sets — because he always insists on a clean duvet.

The actor — who stars opposite Sarah Jessica Parker in new movie Did You Hear About the Morgans? — says he has become a “monster”.

“I think I have gone a bit crazy,” Hugh, 49, told Scottish newspaper the Daily Record. “I am deeply spoiled. In the bedroom of my trailer on a film, I insist they wash the duvet.

“It has to be a new duvet cover and they have to be washed at least seven times in non-bio powder. What kind of monster have I become?”

Grant recently revealed that he doesn’t like acting.

“I like everything about filming except the acting,” he said in August this year. “I’m wonderful in rehearsals, but I have never been very good when they actually switch the cameras on.

“In recent years, I’ve had really bad attacks where I totally froze up. I thought, ‘Well, if I am going to get stage fright, then I am packing it in.’”

Hugh Grant’s carbon footprint must be huge — the actor has revealed how he regularly flies from New York to England just to play golf.

The actor — who doesn’t like acting — admits he is obsessed with game and travels thousands of miles to play 18 holes.

Speaking at the launch of his father James Grant’s watercolor exhibition at a Southampton gallery Sunday night, the 48-year-old star of Notting Hill said, “I come out here to play golf, since I’m a golf fanatic.”

Hugh also took time to praise his 81-year-old father’s artistic skills. “I’m so proud of my dad — he’s been painting all my life,” he said. “My dad, who lives in London and is originally from Scotland, follows the tradition of Scottish colorists and I really love his colors in these nature scenes.”

But James is far less confident in his abilities “I’m only an amateur painter,” he said modestly. “This is only my second exhibit, and it’s for a good cause — the Southampton Fresh Air Home, a camp for physically challenged kids.

“My first exhibit was three years ago in London. It was a benefit for cancer research. My wife died 10 years ago from cancer. My younger son, Hugh, set up that exhibit.”

Almost all of the 86 paintings on display had sold by the end of the benefit night.

Hugh Grant is planning to quit Hollywood — because he doesn’t like acting!

The British star says he aces his lines during rehearsals, but turns to jelly when the cameras start rolling.

“I like everything about filming except the acting,” he said. “I’m wonderful in rehearsals, but I have never been very good when they actually switch the cameras on.

“In recent years, I’ve had really bad attacks where I totally froze up. I thought, ‘Well, if I am going to get stage fright, then I am packing it in.’”

Grant — who has appeared in Four Weddings, Love Actually, Bridget Jones’s Diary and Notting Hill — stars alongside Sarah Jessica Parker in new movie Did You Hear About The Morgans?

British actor HUGH GRANT has sparked rumours he is dating a former model 21 years his junior after the pair was photographed enjoying a romantic day out in New York’s Hamptons.

The Love Actually star was seen frolicking on a beach with 27-year-old fashion designer Catherine Fuller earlier this week (beg01Sep08).

They were later snapped attending a polo tournament together.

A spokesperson for Grant, who turns 48 next week (09Sep08), admits the pair are spending time together, but refuses to confirm whether they are a couple, saying, “They just met at a party.”

Grant split from longtime love Elizabeth Hurley in 2000 and recently dated socialite Jemima Khan.

HUGH GRANT’s beloved film favourite FOUR WEDDINGS AND A FUNERAL has topped a new internet poll to find the best British movie of all time.

The 1994 film, which launched Grant’s Hollywood career, topped the poll, closely followed by Monty Python’s religious satire Life Of Brian.

The romantic comedy saw off competition from cult favourites such as Trainspotting and the Bond blockbuster Casino Royale, which were awarded third and fourth places respectively.

The top five was rounded out by Guy Ritchie’s gangster directorial debut film Lock Stock and Two Smoking Barrels.

Also in the film poll, conducted by Virgin Media, Sir Anthony Hopkins shared the title of Britain’s favourite actor with Sir Sean Connery and Dame Judi Dench was given the gong for best actress.

Hugh Grant’s ex-girlfriend Jemima Khan was left in tears after her she was involved in a collision with a motorcyclist earlier this week.

The 34-year-old socialite was said to be ‘distraught’ after the incident, which happened in London on Friday afternoon.

Jemima, who has two children and split from the ‘Love Actually’ actor in February 2007, was driving her Mini along the fashionable Kings Road in Chelsea when the accident happened.

Her Mini Cooper S had bad dents and scratches on the front and back after the accident

Police and an ambulance arrived at the scene within minutes and the 39-year-old rider was taken to Chelsea and Westminster Hospital with a minor shoulder injury.

An onlooker told Britain’s Mail on Sunday newspaper, “Jemima was very pale afterwards and obviously in shock. She held her head in her hands and she was in tears. She seemed really distraught.”

A Met Police spokesman said a report would be sent to its Criminal Justice Unit to decide whether or not a summons needed to be issued.

This isn’t the first time Jemima’s driving has hit the headlines. Last year, the former wife of Pakistani cricketer Imran Khan drove into a parked Mercedes-Benz after lunch with friends in Chelsea.

HUGH GRANT has found a new way to land acting gigs – the actor was recently seen bidding for a role at an auction.

The Notting Hill star put in a $32,000 (GBP16,000) bid for two walk-on roles in forthcoming comedy Lost for Words at a London auction fundraiser on Tuesday (17Jun08).

But Grant will have to stick with auditioning for parts – he was outbid by a wealthy extra who shelled out $36,000 (GBP18,000).