{"id":801563,"date":"2026-10-13T20:00:10","date_gmt":"2026-10-13T20:00:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/801563\/"},"modified":"2026-10-13T20:00:10","modified_gmt":"2026-10-13T20:00:10","slug":"michael-douglas-reveals-what-saved-marriage-to-catherine-zeta-jones-after-brief-split","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/801563\/","title":{"rendered":"Michael Douglas reveals what saved marriage to Catherine Zeta-Jones after brief split"},"content":{"rendered":"

Michael Douglas explained that he and wife Catherine Zeta-Jones \u201chad to change\u201d to save their marriage following their brief 2013 split.<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cAnd sometimes I think it\u2019s just good to kind of call time out and just talk as two human beings,\u201d the \u201cBasic Instinct\u201d star said in his recent interview with ABC News\u2019 Diane Sawyer <\/a>while promoting his memoir, \u201cOne Helluva Ride.\u201d<\/a><\/p>\n

Douglas, who has been married to Zeta-Jones, 57, since 2000, also detailed what he learned during their separation.<\/p>\n

Michael Douglas (seen here) told ABC News\u2019 Diane Sawyer that he and wife Catherine Zeta-Jones \u201chad to change\u201d to save their marriage during their brief 2013 separation. ABC<\/p>\n

Douglas (seen here with Zeta-Jones at the Monaco Formula 1 Grand Prix in June) said it was good the couple \u201ccalled time out and talked as two human beings.\u201d AFP via Getty Images<\/p>\n

\u201cHow much I loved her. How much I missed her. How much laughs we had together,\u201d he told Sawyer, 80.<\/p>\n

Douglas, 82, and Zeta-Jones famously separated in 2013, but they reunited by the following year.<\/p>\n

In his memoir, Douglas explained that after coming home from vacation, the couple<\/a> \u201cdecided to take some time apart\u201d after they \u201cjust had gone through a period where a number of challenges came at us all at once.\u201d<\/p>\n

Douglas (pictured here with Zeta-Jones at the 2013 Vanity Fair Oscar Party) said he learned how much he \u201cloved\u201d and \u201cmissed\u201d Zeta-Jones during their separation. WireImage<\/p>\n

The couple (seen here in 2000) briefly split in 2013, but reconciled by the following year. Getty Images<\/p>\n

At the time, Douglas was in remission from his stage four cancer battle<\/a>, while Zeta-Jones went to treatment for her bipolar disorder.<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cWe still loved each other immensely, but we needed to make sure that being married was the right thing for all of us,\u201d Douglas wrote, describing the split as \u201cincredibly difficult\u201d for both actors. <\/p>\n

He continued, \u201cCatherine and I have a very intense, deep love for each other. And we love our kids dearly. We worked hard to make sure they understood that this wasn\u2019t their fault. It wasn\u2019t anyone\u2019s fault.\u201d<\/p>\n

Douglas (seen here with Zeta-Jones at the 2019 SAG Awards) wrote about his wife in his new memoir, \u201cOne Helluva Ride.\u201d Getty Images for Turner<\/p>\n

Douglas (seen here with Zeta-Jones in 2023) said the split was \u201cincredibly difficult\u201d for both actors. Dave Benett\/Getty Images for Aston Martin<\/p>\n

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Later in his tell-all book<\/a>, the \u201cWall Street\u201d star, who shares son Dylan, 26, and daughter Carys, 23,<\/a> with his longtime wife, said he \u201cnever gave up hope\u201d that the pair would get back together.<\/p>\n

\u201cAs Catherine and I were seeing each other more surrounding the kids\u2014school functions, drop-offs, extracurricular activities\u2014we realized we both missed each other enormously,\u201d Douglas wrote. <\/p>\n

\u201cTaking time away helped reignite the spark that had brought us together.\u201d<\/p>\n

During an exclusive interview with Page Six last week, Douglas confirmed Zeta-Jones was the middle of reading his memoir<\/a>, which includes details about his past romances<\/a> and secret affairs<\/a>.<\/p>\n

But Douglas admitted he \u201cnever gave up hope\u201d that they\u2019d get back together.<\/p>\n

Douglas (seen here with Zeta-Jones in 2013) told Page Six that his wife is in the midst of reading his tell-all book. Stefanie Keenan<\/p>\n

But the \u201cWednesday\u201d actress recently admitted on \u201cToday\u201d that she\u2019s too busy to finish Douglas\u2019 book.<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cAs much as I love my husband, when I\u2019m tired at night, I have no intention of reading about him. At all,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut everyone else should [read it],\u201d the \u201cChicago\u201d star told the audience. \u201cThe book is called \u2018One Helluva Ride,\u2019 and I think everyone should hold on to their cowboy hats, because I think it is.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Michael Douglas explained that he and wife Catherine Zeta-Jones \u201chad to change\u201d to save their marriage following their…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":801564,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[28267,457,19636,14196,9566,2972,9401,2755,96,59,19635,2839,391,56,54,55],"class_list":["post-801563","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-entertainment","tag-actors","tag-books","tag-catherine-zeta-jones","tag-celebrity-breakups","tag-celebrity-couples","tag-celebrity-marriages","tag-celebrity-memoirs","tag-celebrity-news","tag-entertainment","tag-gb","tag-michael-douglas","tag-movies","tag-tv","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom","tag-unitedkingdom"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/801563","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=801563"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/801563\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/801564"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=801563"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=801563"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=801563"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}