Hugh Grant has admitted he is ready to be a dad - as long as he has plenty of nannies on hand to help him out.

The never-married actor said he has finally started to get broody as he approaches 50.

But he said he would not treat any children he had with kid gloves.

He said: “Ten years ago, I wouldn’t have thought about having children at all. 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 haven’t given up hope [that I will have children].”

Asked if he thought he would make a good father, Hugh, 49, said: “Yes, I do rather. I find I’m not as bad with children as I used to be.”

The Four Weddings & A Funeral star, who dated model Elizabeth Hurley from 1986 to 2000, added: “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.”