{"id":793028,"date":"2026-10-05T21:14:13","date_gmt":"2026-10-05T21:14:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/793028\/"},"modified":"2026-10-05T21:14:13","modified_gmt":"2026-10-05T21:14:13","slug":"michael-douglas-opens-up-about-catherine-zeta-jones-split-we-had-our-problems","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/793028\/","title":{"rendered":"Michael Douglas opens up about Catherine Zeta-Jones split: \u2018We had our problems\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Michael Douglas<\/a> has spoken about his brief split from wife Catherine Zeta-Jones<\/a>, with the actor, 82, rejecting the idea that he had to \u201cwin her back\u201d. <\/p>\n

The two-time Oscar winner married the Welsh actor, who is 25 years younger than him and his second wife, in 2000 after a year of dating. They welcomed son Dylan that same year and daughter Carys three years after. <\/p>\n

In August 2013, Zeta-Jones confirmed that the couple were \u201ctaking some time apart to evaluate and work on their marriage\u201d<\/a>. It came just months after Douglas controversially blamed him developing cancer of the tongue on oral sex, with his publicist later retracting the remarks and saying that he was not referring to his cancer. <\/p>\n

The pair reportedly reconciled in November that year and in 2015, Douglas said that he \u201cregretted any embarrassment\u201d that the comments caused Zeta-Jones.<\/p>\n

\"DouglasDouglas and Zeta-Jones in 2000 (Getty)<\/p>\n

When asked in an interview with The Sunday Times <\/a>how he \u201cwon her back\u201d after the brief split, Douglas seemed to take exception to the suggestion that he had to make amends. <\/p>\n

\u201cWhat, I won her back? It was mutual,\u201d he told the publication. \u201cYou know, we had our problems but I love her dearly and, 25 years, you know.<\/p>\n

\u201cI mean, I don\u2019t know about your marital status, but marriage is a lot of work, you know. And so, you know, we\u2019re good. We\u2019re in good shape. It\u2019s all I can say.\u201d<\/p>\n

The actor, who is best known for starring in Fatal Attraction (1987), Romancing the Stone (1984) and Behind the Candelabra (2013), reflects on his life in his forthcoming autobiography, One Helluva Ride<\/a>. Writing about the brief break in his marriage to Zeta-Jones, Douglas said: \u201cI never gave up hope that we would reconcile.\u201d <\/p>\n

According to Douglas, Zeta-Jones is yet to read the book \u2013 which may be for the best considering that he details the numerous affairs he had while married to his first wife, Diandra Luker. <\/p>\n

It was recently revealed that Douglas confirms in the book that he fell in love with Romancing the Stone co-star Kathleen Turner<\/a> while filming the 1984 film in Mexico. <\/p>\n

\"MichaelMichael Douglas opens up about his life in a new autobiography (AFP\/Getty)<\/p>\n

\u201cKathleen was smart, funny, and sexy with a deep, sultry voice that became her signature,\u201d he wrote, according to an excerpt of the memoir obtained by People<\/a>. \u201cI instantly liked her, and we were immediately attracted to each other.\u201d<\/p>\n

Douglas added that his marriage to Luker, who he wed in 1977, was \u201cin a bad place\u201d at the time and that they were both having \u201cextramarital affairs\u201d. He added: \u201cI left for Mexico still technically married, but separated.\u201d He ended the affair after Luker became suspicious and returned to his wife for the sake of their son, Cameron. <\/p>\n

The couple ultimately divorced in 2000, with Douglas marrying Zeta-Jones that same year.<\/p>\n

One Helluva Ride is released on Tuesday (6 October).<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Want to bookmark your favourite articles and stories to read or reference later? Start your Independent Membership today.…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":793029,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[261032,107799,9911,96,25003,13676,442,185934,59,115549,229,6501,261033,56,54,55],"class_list":["post-793028","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-entertainment","tag-black-tie","tag-businessmen","tag-couple","tag-entertainment","tag-evening","tag-event","tag-formal","tag-gala","tag-gb","tag-politicians","tag-politics","tag-portrait","tag-tuxedos","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom","tag-unitedkingdom"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/793028","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=793028"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/793028\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/793029"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=793028"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=793028"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=793028"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}