Kate Hudson Puts ‘Smelly’ Matthew McConaughey Rumor to Rest

Kate Hudson is shutting down a longstanding rumor about Matthew McConaughey’s scent. The actress and singer, 45, opened up about her Fool’s Gold and How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days co-star’s body odor on the July 17 episode of Watch What Happens Live with Andy Cohen, noting that he has a very distinct smell.

“Was that old urban legend true that you forced Matthew McConaughey to wear deodorant while filming Fool’s Gold?” host Andy Cohen asked, reading a fan-submitted question on the show. Hudson answered, “No. He doesn’t wear deodorant,” confessing, “and by the way, I don’t either.”

The Almost Famous star clarified that she didn’t think McConaughey needed to wear deodorant, but noted she became very familiar with his natural scent. “My thing was that I could smell him from, you know, a mile [away] because we were so close!” she explained. “He’s an – we’re au naturels, you know?”

McConaughey was actually the one who first sparked the rumor, telling Playboy in 2008 that Hudson would often try to get him to use a deodorizer on the set of Fool’s Gold. “She always brings a salt rock, which is some natural deodorant, and says, ‘Would you please put this on?’” the actor, now 54, told the outlet at the time. “I just never wore it. 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.’”

McConaughey’s Tropic Thunder co-star Yvette Nicole Brown would weigh in on the scent debate years later in 2021. “I remember that Matthew McConaughey said that he did not use deodorant and that he didn’t have an odor. So my first thought is, ‘I’m going to get as close as I can to him to see if he’s right,’” she said on SiriusXM’s The Jess Cagle Show at the time. “He did not have an odor. He smells like granola and good living. He has a sweet, sweet scent that is just him and it’s not musty or crazy.” She continued, “I believe he bathes because he smells delicious. He just didn’t have deodorant on.”

McConaughey’s natural scent clearly hasn’t put Hudson off of working with the actor, as she told Cohen on WWHL that both she and her How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days co-star would be open to filming a sequel to their iconic rom-com. “I think [studios] are always thinking about that,” the actress reasoned. “All that matters would be the script and if Matthew and I were into the script. … I think we’re both totally open, it has just never happened.”