Celebrities often present themselves as the picture of glamour, not Jonathan Ross. The staple of British talkshow hosting recently admitted that he and his wife Jane Goldman often go up to a week without showering, telling Rob Beckett and Josh Widdicombe’s on their Parenting Hell podcast, 'Do you think I give enough of a sh*t about anything to bother spending any extra time on grooming whatsoever? I resent the fact that I have to shower.'
Ross then said that his longest stint of not showering was two weeks – and that a swimming pool didn’t even get rid of his stench. 'So I had a shower, it didn’t go. Had another one, it didn’t go. I had to shave the hair off my armpit to get rid of it. It was so ingrained,' he went on.
Naturally, the internet has reacted with suitable appall - but as it happens he's not the only celebrity with questionable hygiene habits. Welcome to your new favourite listicle: celebrities that got a bit too real with the public about their peculiar washing routines...
The infrequent bathers
Actors Ashton Kutcher and Mila Kunis revealed that they do not have daily showers. 'I wash my armpits and my crotch daily, and nothing else ever. I got a bar of Lever 2000 [soap] that delivers every time,' he told Dax Shepherd on his Armchair Expert podcast. Mila added, 'I don’t wash my body with soap every day. But I wash pits and tits and holes and soles.'
He may be one of Hollywood’s hottest men, but Brad Pitt can also go days without showering. Earlier this year, his former roommate Jason Priestley revealed on Live With Kelly And Mark that they had contests where they would see who could go the longest without a shower when they lived together in LA during the early days of their careers. Asked who won, the Beverly Hills, 90210 actor said, 'Brad. Always Brad. I don’t think he does that anymore, but back then he could go a long time without showering.'
However, Brad told his Inglourious Basterds co-star Eli Roth in 2009 that he often eschews the shower. 'I got six kids. All you’ve got to do is just take baby wipes, a couple quick wipes under the pits. I don’t have time to take a shower,' he said.
Jake Gyllenhaal too isn’t a daily washer. 'More and more I find bathing to be less necessary, at times,' he said to Vanity Fair. 'I do think that there’s a whole world of not bathing that is also really helpful for skin maintenance, and we naturally clean ourselves.'
Barbie star America Ferrera revealed to Vanity Fair that her guilty pleasure is 'not showering for a few days' and Julia Roberts admitted to Oprah Winfrey that she doesn’t shower every day in a bid to be more eco-friendly.
The body part skippers
Leggy stars Taylor Swift and Sophie Turner joined in on the viral debate over whether to wash one's legs, both revealing they didn't intentionally scrub their pins. For the Cruel Summer singer, she doesn’t wash her legs – because she shaves them every day and considers shaving cream to be a cleanser. 'When you shave your legs, the shaving cream is like soap, right?' she said to Ellen DeGeneres.
Sophie Turner 'never' cleans hers either. 'I don’t wash my legs in the shower,' she told Greg James on his radio show.
Meanwhile, Cameron Diaz and Salma Hayek aren't fans of cleaning their faces. 'I never wash my face… Twice a month, if I’m lucky,' Cameron said on Michelle Visage's Rule Breakers podcast. Salma explained to GQ, 'My grandmother taught me to never wash my face in the morning. It’s not disgusting. What happens at night is your skin produces all the oils that your skin needs to look youthful. It regenerates. So, wash your skin really well at night but don’t wash the hard work off your skin in the morning.'
As for Robert Pattinson and James Corden, you might want to think twice about running your hands through their hair. 'I don’t really see the point in washing your hair,' R-Patz told Extra, while James admitted that he only washes his hair 'about every two months' on The Late Late Show.
The deodorant deniers
Amongst the stars who have said they embrace their natural scent are Julia Roberts, Cameron Diaz, Lizzo, Bradley Cooper and Matthew McConaughey.
'I don’t actually use deodorant. It’s just never been my thing,' Julia told Oprah Winfrey, as Cameron said to E!, 'I don’t believe in antiperspirant. I haven’t used it for almost 20 years. It keeps all the stink in.'
Matthew said to People that he hasn’t used deo for over 20 years, but still smells like 'a man'. Bradley agreed, explaining to Esquire, 'I don’t use deodorant really anymore. I do take a lot of showers, so maybe that helps.'
And having given up deodorant in 2021, Lizzo said that she smells 'better'.
Each to their own, we guess!