Michael Douglas had to break-up with five women to date Catherine Zeta-Jones

Michael Douglas broke up with five women he was casually dating when he had the chance to get together with future wife Catherine Zeta-Jones.

The Game star, 82, was divorced from ex-wife Diandra Luker when he began dating Catherine in 1999, having had on set affairs with co-stars including Romancing the Stone's Kathleen Turner and Basic Instinct's Jeanne Tripplehorn.

After the end of his first marriage, Michael admits he went a little wild and was given an ultimatum by his future wife that he could not see anyone else - necessitating some painful phone calls.

Speaking to U.K. chat show host Graham Norton, Michael confessed: "It was very easy to get comfortable with co-stars and sometimes that got carried away. When I courted Catherine she told me, 'If we are doing this, you need to clean your act up.' I was divorced and seeing some other people at the time, so I had to call five women to break things off."

The star's colourful life is documented in his new memoir, One Helluva Ride, which Michael says includes plenty of juicy tales about his past.

He added: "There were so many stories about the movies I have made but then the producer in me took over and I thought, 'Let's just go for the dirt!"

Asked about the process of writing a memoir, he continued: "I thought it was probably time. My dad (Kirk Douglas) wrote nine books, including a great autobiography, so I started thinking about legacy. It was fabulous going back. I had forgotten so much."

One Helluva Ride was released earlier this month.