Michael Douglas has written openly about the brief separation from Catherine Zeta-Jones that threatened their marriage more than a decade ago. In his new autobiography, One Helluva Ride, the actor says he never gave up hope that the two of them would reconcile, and in an interview with The Sunday Times he described their marriage as being in good shape.
The couple met in August 1998 at the Deauville American Film Festival in France. Douglas had been struck by the Welsh actress after seeing her in The Mask of Zorro, and he is said to have told her during their first conversation that he would be the father of her children. She was not impressed, and he followed up with flowers and an apology. They soon became a couple, married and had two children.
In 2013 they separated during a turbulent period for both of them, before finding their way back to each other after a short time apart. Asked how he had won his wife back, Douglas rejected the idea that it was one-sided, saying the reconciliation had been mutual. He acknowledged that they had problems but said he loves her very much, and described marriage as a lot of work.
The memoir also takes on a story that has followed him since the 1990s: the claim that he sought treatment for sex addiction. Douglas says it is false. He confirms that he did go to rehab, but says it was for alcohol, and he blames a British tabloid journalist for the story. He also recalls that Zeta-Jones made it clear early on that their relationship would have to be monogamous, and says he made a few phone calls that same evening to end things with the people he had been seeing.
Zeta-Jones, who recently starred in Wednesday, has offered her own explanation for why the marriage has lasted. She told The Sunday Times Culture that their different work schedules help, with Douglas encouraging her to take on projects and then flying out to visit for long weekends. She said she doubts the marriage would have survived a more conventional daily routine of breakfast together.
