Michael Douglas Opens Up About Brief Separation From Catherine Zeta-Jones

Michael Douglas has addressed his temporary separation from Catherine Zeta-Jones 13 years into their marriage, emphasizing that the decision to take time apart was mutual.

The couple first met in 1998 and married in 2000. In 2013, they briefly separated following a difficult period marked by a series of personal health challenges.

At the time, the Welsh actress said they were “taking some time apart to evaluate and work on their marriage.”

Douglas, who is 25 years older than Zeta-Jones, has now rejected the suggestion that he had to “win her back.”

In an interview with The Sunday Times to promote his new memoir, One Helluva Ride, the 82-year-old actor was asked how he had “won back” his wife. Douglas responded tersely: “What, I won her back? It was a mutual.”

He added: “You know, we had our problems but I love her dearly and, 25 years, you know.”

“I mean, I don’t know about your marital status, but marriage is a lot of work, you know. And so, you know, we’re good. We’re in good shape. It’s all I can say.”

In his memoir, Douglas writes of their brief break: “I never gave up hope that we would reconcile.”

The couple’s 2013 separation came two years after Zeta-Jones revealed that she was struggling with depression and had been diagnosed with Bipolar II disorder. That year, she sought treatment at a mental health facility.

Douglas was also dealing with his own health crisis after being diagnosed with cancer in 2010.

Zeta-Jones returned to a mental health facility in 2013 to continue treatment for bipolar disorder.

Around the same period, Douglas claimed in a controversial 2013 interview with The Guardian that the type of cancer he had could be caused by oral sex.

“This particular cancer is caused by HPV [human papillomavirus], which actually comes about from cunnilingus,” he told the publication.

Douglas later retracted the comments and publicly apologized during a 2015 interview with Event magazine.

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“It was one of those things… and I so regretted any embarrassment that it caused Catherine,” he said.

He also described the couple’s separation in the 2015 interview as “a little bump in the road.”

He continued: ‘The problem in this business is that everything is so public. I love Catherine as much, more than I ever have. And hopefully the feeling’s mutual.

‘We worked things out – if both people want to work something out and make it better, you can do it. You can’t do it if it’s just one person.’

The couple share two children Dylan, 26, and daughter Carys, 23.

Speaking to The Sunday Times in September, Zeta-Jones said that the secret to her marriage with Douglas was her ‘working’ throughout rather than being a stay-at-home wife. 

‘Michael is, like, “Do that job, that’s amazing.” Then he’s able to fly in and see me,’ she explained.

‘Much better than waking up, going, “What do you want for breakfast, honey?'” ‘I don’t think our marriage would ever have lasted if it was like that.’ 

Douglas stepped back from acting in 2022 after a nearly 60-year career and has said he will only return to the screen for something ‘special’.

Zeta-Jones though has consistently worked throughout their marriage and in recent years has had huge success with her role as Morticia in the Netflix hit Wednesday.

She is currently starring in the spy thriller Kill Jackie on Amazon Prime Video. 

Douglas was last seen in AppleTV+’s miniseries Franklin, about the United States Founding Father Benjamin Franklin.

Michael Douglas’s One Helluva Ride (Headline Publishing Group) goes on sale today in the UK. Get it at the Mail Bookshop here.