Michael Douglas has described himself as a “healthy product of the Sixties” while reflecting on his colourful romantic past.
In his forthcoming memoir, One Helluva Ride, the 82-year-old actor acknowledges that he had an affair with Kathleen Turner during the filming of Romancing the Stone, at a time when he was still married to his first wife, Diandra Luker.
The book recounts several of Douglas’s relationships and includes the story of how he made “five quick calls” after Catherine Zeta-Jones told him she would only continue dating him if he agreed to be monogamous. Asked by a British journalist whether he had ever questioned why he slept with so many women, Douglas rejected that characterisation.
“I don’t know if I slept with so many women, I don’t see it that way,” he said. “No, not me, no. I was a healthy product of the Sixties.”
He then questioned why British media appeared particularly interested in the subject, asking in what was described as an “accusatory” tone: “My curiosity is why, of all countries, of all the press that I do, why are the Brits so consumed with the issues of sex?”
Douglas also makes his position clear in the memoir, writing: “I was never a ***ing sex addict.” His comments address reports from the 1990s that he had entered rehabilitation for sex addiction.
Michael Douglas, 82, has rejected rumours that he was addicted to sex, describing himself as a “healthy product of the Sixties” while discussing his colourful love life. He is pictured with his wife, Catherine Zeta-Jones.
In his forthcoming memoir, Douglas admits for the first time that he had an affair with co-star Kathleen Turner while they were making the 1984 action comedy Romancing the Stone.
When told that his memoir was “full of sex”, Douglas disagreed. “I didn’t feel like it was,” he said. “I mention a couple [of women] in the book.”
Asked to explain the story about ending relationships with five women before committing to the then 57-year-old Zeta-Jones, he told The Sunday Times Magazine: “No, no, it’s not what it was.”
“What Catherine said is, if we’re going to continue this then I want it to be monogamous. And so I therefore, that evening, you know, made some calls to some people I was seeing, and that was that.”
Asked whether Zeta-Jones was anxious about the memoir’s publication, Douglas replied: “She hasn’t read it.” He nevertheless maintained that their marriage was “in good shape”.
One of the memoir’s major revelations is Douglas’s admission that he had an affair with Turner while the pair were filming the 1984 action comedy Romancing the Stone.
In an excerpt published by People, Douglas wrote: “Kathleen was smart, funny, and sexy with a deep, sultry voice that became her signature. I instantly liked her, and we were immediately attracted to each other.”
He said his marriage to Diandra was “in a bad place” and revealed that he had already been involved with Romancing the Stone screenwriter Diane Thomas before developing a relationship with Turner.
Douglas and Turner, who was single at the time but dating real estate mogul Jay Weiss, both repeatedly denied the affair. Weiss would later become Turner’s husband. The rumours intensified after Douglas’s then-wife, Diandra, became so concerned that she travelled to the Mexican set and confronted her husband.
Now, almost 40 years after the film became a blockbuster, Douglas says he is finally ready to “come clean”.
In the candid memoir, he recalls falling into what he described as immediate “lust” with Turner, now 72. “Kathleen was smart, funny and sexy, with a deep sultry voice that became her signature. I instantly liked her and we were immediately attracted to each other,” he wrote.
The Fatal Attraction actor continued: “Things at home were in a bad place. Diandra and I were both having extramarital affairs. The truth is that during the production of Romancing The Stone, Kathleen and I fell hard for each other and began a relationship.
“It wasn’t a fly-by-night affair; it grew naturally from how closely we were working together, how much pressure we were under, how much we respected and cared for one another, and how attracted we were to each other.”
‘Like every other guy in the world at the time, I was knocked sideways by Kathleen.’
Douglas’ marriage to Diandra Luker limped on until 2000 when the couple divorced (pictured in 1997) – with Douglas marrying Zeta-Jones that same year
The pair kept their affair hidden from everyone including their co-star Danny DeVito and director Robert Zemeckis.
CHECK THIS OUT: Terror Cells in Foreign Airlines ‘Certainly Possible,’ Retired Pilot Warns
Douglas penned: ‘We found each other first as friends, then as co-stars, and finally as lovers.
‘Following an exhausting day of shooting in the jungle, we’d go out and have a meal, or head out with the group and afterward I would sneak into her hotel room after everybody was asleep.’
Their clandestine romance ended when Douglas’s wife flew from LA to Mexico and brought their young son.
He added: ‘Diandra grew suspicious. A woman’s intuition, I suppose.’
Their marriage limped on until 2000 when the couple divorced – with Douglas marrying Zeta-Jones that same year.
He and Turner had a ‘gentleman’s agreement’ never to discuss their relationship and for four decades both stuck to that pact.
Douglas wrote: ‘The official story went as follows: Yes, we confessed, we had amazing chemistry. Yes, we were both, as Kathleen said, ‘terrible flirts’, and yes, we were both tempted, but nothing ever happened between us.
‘That was a lie. It was a lie meant to protect my wife and son, a lie we told the world for 40 years.’
Turner honoured that pact in an interview with The Mail on Sunday a few years ago, saying: ‘The chemistry was there and Michael and I were both terrible flirts. We were in the jungle and I was feeling very romantic towards him. It was going to happen.
‘Then I walked on set one day and his wife was suddenly there. She sat next to him and that was that. You don’t mess with another woman’s husband.’
When asked this week how she felt about Douglas ‘outing’ their illicit romance, Turner appeared far from upset: ‘Good heavens, what a fuss about something 40 years ago! I love Michael and I look forward to enjoying the book.’
Douglas met actress Zeta-Jones in 1999 and they married two years later. They welcomed son Dylan that year followed by a daughter, Carys Zeta, in 2003
Turner and Douglas proved to be a box office draw, with Romancing The Stone grossing $115million at the box office.
They reunited a year later for the sequel The Jewel of the Nile, but they kept their relationship strictly professional.
They did a third movie together in 1989, The War of the Roses, which was another massive box office hit.
Luker eventually filed for divorce from Douglas in 1995 after 18 years of marriage.
According to several reports, Luker walked away with $45million and several homes.
Douglas met actress Zeta-Jones in 1998 and they married two years later. They welcomed son Dylan that year followed by a daughter, Carys Zeta, in 2003.
Douglas and Turner would go on to reunite once again, this time on the small screen in Netflix’s The Kominsky Method.
Turner joined the show’s second season in 2019 and also appeared in the third and final season in 2021.
They once again denied rumours of a past affair while promoting the series, leaving it as a four-decade secret.
One Helluva Ride will be released October 6.