Michael Douglas has finally confirmed that he and Kathleen Turner had an intimate relationship while making the 1984 movie Romancing the Stone.
In his new memoir, One Helluva Ride, the Wall Street actor confessed that he and Turner lied for more than 40 years about the nature of their relationship whenever they were asked about their strong on-screen chemistry.
"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," he wrote in an extract published by People on Friday. "That was a lie. It was a lie meant to protect my wife and son, a lie we told the world for 40 years.
"The truth is that during the production of Romancing the Stone, Kathleen and I fell hard for each other and began a relationship."
Douglas, who was separated from his wife Diandra at the time, explained that he would sneak into Turner's hotel room after everyone was asleep, and their co-star Danny DeVito and director Robert Zemeckis had "no clue about my affair".
However, Diandra "grew suspicious" when she visited the actor in Mexico with their son Cameron, then five, and had a word with Turner.
"At some point, she was alone with Kathleen and made it clear to her that we were still married. Her view of the terms of our separation was different from mine. This gave Kathleen pause. She didn't want to interfere," he recalled.
"After that visit, Kathleen and I ended things, and I went back to Diandra. I did it for Cameron, but we shouldn't have gotten back together. After that first split it was never the same between us ever again."
After Romancing the Stone was a huge hit, Turner tried to get out of making the sequel, The Jewel of the Nile, but she was contractually obligated to do so. They mended their friendship while working on the follow-up.
Douglas and Turner have remained good friends ever since, and even worked together again on 1989's War of the Roses and his TV show The Kominsky Method in 2021.
Diandra ultimately filed for divorce from the Basic Instinct star in 1995. He has been married to actress Catherine Zeta-Jones, the mother of his two younger children, since 2000.
One Helluva Ride will be published on 6 October.
