Eddie Murphy : Girlfriend Paige Butcher on Her Laid-Back, Cut-Abs Exercise Routine

You may know Paige Butcher from perusing “Page Six” or the Daily Mail, where she is a subject of much fascination. She’s often photographed at the beach, in an array of different bikinis, or at the Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf with her boyfriend, Eddie Murphy. But what you may not know is that the model and actress leads a charmed, down-to-earth lifestyle with Murphy in L.A., refurbishing wheelchairs for charity and doing lunges in the hallways of her home to stay fit. To supplement our November spotlight of Butcher, photographed by Tony Kelly, we chatted with her about her charity work, her home-repair skills, and how she got those amazing abs.


VF Daily: Tell us about how you got your start. You started modeling when you were 13, right?

Paige Butcher: Actually, I started when I was seven or eight. My mother was a fashion designer and my father was a model. So I was modeling for my mum’s stuff, and everybody said, “You should be a model.” So at 13, I started really taking it more seriously.

Are you interested in getting further into acting?

Not really. I moved to L.A. mainly for the lifestyle. Living in New York after 14 years, I’m such an outdoors kind of person. I love gardening and building things. I like restoring old furniture.


How did you get into that?  

I started doing Habitat for Humanity. I started building houses with them, and I took what I learned from them and started doing stuff for myself. I just finished a big, Balinese cabana. It’s like a little hut. It has a grass roof on it. I had to sand it down, restain it, reseal it, and then put curtains up, put a TV in there—all that stuff. It took me months.

So if anything needs repairing around the house . . .

I am that person, yes. I know, it’s really funny. I’ve laid electrical, I’ve made brick paving paths and walls, laid dry wall, hung doors, doorframes . . . I really enjoy it. I’m very artistic. I find it’s very therapeutic. I’m definitely a perfectionist.

Speaking of perfection, tell me about your exercise routine.

Well, actually, I’m not a gym rat. I’m not a gym person—I’ve never been. I’ve always been blessed to be thin. If I’m waiting for the kettle to boil, I’m doing 15 lunges.

Suddenly I feel so lazy.

I’m Australian, so we’re a lot more outdoorsy. When it comes to cardio, I’m not very fit. For my stomach, I don’t do sit-ups. As a lingerie/swimwear model, I spent days on set flexing or holding my stomach in for work. I found that by the next day my stomach would be killing me. That was the point where I was doing sit-ups, so I was like, Wow, this is a really good workout, just holding your stomach muscles and flexing. Slowly, over the years, even if I’m sitting on the couch, I’m flexing my stomach muscles. I’ve gotten to the point where if I’m not flexing my stomach, it feels weird. So throughout the day, any activity I’m doing, my stomach is always in a flexed position.

Your body made it a habit.

Exactly. No one believes I don’t do sit-ups.

And what about weights?

I definitely had my times where I’ve done more, as far as weights and treadmills and things like that. But for the past year, it’s more just lifestyle. I like hiking. I like going to the beach in Venice and riding my bike for a couple hours. I get very bored working out. I would rather do something fun. Just incorporate fitness and working out, and I eat pretty well.

Are you vegetarian or vegan?

No. I try to eat balanced. I’m lucky to be able to eat pretty much what I want, but I make sure to have a balance. My favorite thing lately is the NutriBullet. I love it. If I’m having a bad cheat day, I overdo the NutriBullet. I do a huge green one with spinach and kale, broccoli, lemon juice, other vegetables and fruit. Blend it up, and it’s a really good way to get the nutrition without having to eat them all. I like to cheat! Drink it down in one gulp rather than chew my vegetables.


What about guilty pleasures?

Cheese. I could eat cheese, crackers, and salami every day. Barbeque potato chips.

But what about those huge Frappuccinos with whipped cream you’re always holding from the Coffee Bean?

Well, if anyone wants coffee . . . we kind of [get it for them]. I never drink too much coffee, but I get an iced coffee when it’s hot. If not, I get a hazelnut latte.

Other than paparazzi photos of you getting coffee, you’re very difficult to Google. Where are your Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram accounts?


I had Facebook for about a year, then I moved on to Instagram, got rid of both, went to Twitter, then eventually got rid of all of them.

Why?

I’m in a relationship with a celebrity, so I felt like there’s already enough of me out there. I felt like I was giving out too much information. I was giving people too much access. I like to keep as much private as possible now. As you say, people will use anything against you. The more you put out, the more you get back. I just wasn’t using it. And I was really boring. I would just post my volunteer work.

You mentioned Habitat for Humanity earlier. What other charities are you working with?

I’ve always wanted to do charity stuff. I’m such a nurturer and love taking care of people. Living in New York, I found New York Cares, so that connected me, and I originally would run sessions with KEEN, Kids Enjoy Exercise Now, for children with physical and mental disabilities—a sports program. I started with that and then nursing homes. Here [in L.A.] I volunteer at homeless shelters. I look after the children while the parents go through counseling. The recent one I’m on every week is called Baby to Baby, which is a nonprofit for women that have children and are living below the poverty line, so the charity sends care packages with toys, things for the kids, diapers, strollers, and stuff. So I go there and help them out.

I also refurbish wheelchairs, for Wheels for Humanity. They get donations of old wheelchairs that are broken, and we change the tires out, clean them, and put new seats in, and then they send them to third-world countries.