Kate Hudson has a surprising confession: She doesn’t wear deodorant. The 45-year-old actress recently revealed this on Watch What Happens Live with Andy Cohen, sharing the tidbit in response to a fan-submitted question asked by the talk show host.
The question was: “Was that old urban legend true that you forced Matthew McConaughey to wear deodorant while filming Fool’s Gold?” The two co-starred in the 2008 romantic comedy.
“No! He doesn’t wear deodorant,” Hudson responded, dropping the beauty bombshell: “And by the way, I don’t either.”
The so-called “urban legend” first surfaced in a 2021 interview with Playboy. McConaughey revealed that Hudson had subtly suggested he use deodorant. “She always brings a salt rock, which is some natural deodorant,” he told the outlet. “‘Would you please put this on?’ I just never wore it.”
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While Hudson denied that she “forced” McConaughey during the WWHL interview, she threw in some more context. “My thing was that I could smell him from a mile…because we were so close.” But she doubled-down on her confession to add that both of them belong to the special category of non-deodorant-wearers, calling them “au naturales.”
The How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days star didn’t go into detail about why she opts out of deodorant. Although McConaughey wasn’t present to explain his hygiene choices, he has discussed them publicly before. “I just never wore it,” he told Playboy in his 2021 interview. “No cologne, no deodorant. The women in my life, including my mother, have all said, ‘Hey, your natural smell smells, one, like a man, and, two, smells like you.'”
But his dedication to skipping deodorant stretches back much further. In 2005, during his interview with People for his Sexiest Man Alive cover, he was asked what a “man should smell like.” His response? “A man. I haven’t worn deodorant in 20 years.”
Despite this, Yvette Nicole Brown, a former co-star of McConaughey’s, made it her mission to see if his non-deodorant stance was actually an issue. “I remember that Matthew McConaughey said that he did not use deodorant and that he didn’t have an odor,” she said on on SiriusXM’s The Jess Cagle Show in 2021. “So, my first thought was, ‘I’m going to get as close as I can to him to see if he’s right,'” Brown added, reflecting on their time working together on Tropic Thunder in 2008.
The verdict: “He does not have an odor,” she revealed. “He smells like granola and good living. He has a sweet, sweet scent that is just him. It’s not musty or crazy.”
It’s clear that McConaughey’s no-deodorant stance is a well-established part of his routine—though we wouldn’t be surprised if this contentious topic makes waves again soon. As for Hudson? We’ll be keeping our eyes, ears, and noses out for more details.
