Michael Douglas had heard the s*x addiction rumor for decades, and he clearly had little patience left for it. The 82-year-old actor pushed back while promoting his memoir, One Helluva Ride, which arrived with plenty of romantic history attached.
The conversation quickly shifted from Hollywood memories to Douglas’s love life. He challenged the idea that his memoir centered on s*x and corrected the story surrounding his early relationship with Catherine Zeta-Jones.
Michael Douglas denies s*x addiction rumors while discussing his past before Catherine Zeta-Jones
During The Sunday Times interview, Douglas bristled when the reporter questioned his romantic history. He said the memoir mentioned “a couple” of partners, despite the journalist pointing to his account of ending things “with five women” before committing to Zeta-Jones. Douglas immediately replied, “No, no, it’s not what it was.”
He explained that Zeta-Jones had wanted exclusivity before their relationship continued. “What Catherine said is, if we’re going to continue this, then I want it to be monogamous,” Douglas said. He then recalled making calls to women he had been seeing and ending those relationships.
The actor also rejected the suggestion that he had slept with an unusually large number of women. “No, not me, no. I was a healthy product of the ’60s,” he said. Then came the sharper question: “Why are the Brits so consumed with the issues of s*x?”
Douglas also revisited the old claim that he entered rehab for s*x addiction during the 1990s. He blamed a British tabloid editor for starting the story and insisted, “It wasn’t true.” His memoir went even further, stating he “was never a f–king s*x addict.”
Ironically, One Helluva Ride did contain one major romantic revelation. Douglas admitted to a secret affair with Romancing the Stone co-star Kathleen Turner while they were filming the 1984 movie. The pair kept the relationship quiet for 40 years. At the time of the affair, Douglas was separated from his first wife, Diandra Luker.
Turner recently dismissed the renewed attention surrounding their romance as “fuss.” Douglas later married Zeta-Jones in 2000, and they briefly separated in 2013.
Asked how he “won her back,” Douglas corrected that framing too. “It was a mutual … You know, we had our problems but I love her dearly,” he said. He added, “Marriage is a lot of work,” before insisting they were “in good shape.”
