Hollywood icon Michael Douglas opened up about his career, high-profile past romances, and his marriage to Catherine Zeta-Jones during an appearance on Heart Breakfast with Jamie Theakston and Amanda Holden.
Promoting his autobiography One Helluva Ride, the screen legend reflected on his life as a self-proclaimed "nepo baby" and shared intimate details about his household, including his favourite habit of his wife, Catherine Zeta-Jones. Discussing their 25-year age gap, Douglas revealed: "Catherine was the British tap-dancing champion when she was 7 years old, so sometimes I go and say, 'Let's go to the bathroom with the marble floor,' and say, 'Give me a little bit!' And I get a few taps in the bathroom!"
Addressing their generational difference, Douglas candidly admitted: "When you're 25 years older than your wife, there was a life that you've had before. I was in a lot of movies before I met Catherine, and I think she accepts and understands that. Kathleen Turner and I were lovers in Romancing the Stone, and my wife was 7 years old at the time." He added that he reached out to Turner before publishing the book: "I contacted Kathleen, and we've been friends ever since, and said, 'Would you mind if I shared our story together?' She was absolutely okay with it."
Reflecting on on-screen chemistry, Douglas warned about blurring boundaries between reel and real life: "The lesson you learn at the beginning, you think, 'Oh okay, we'll carry on, we'll get it on off-camera, so it'll be easier, more comfortable for us when we're doing our love scenes.' The problem is you may break up in the middle of it all, and then you're looking at each other and you hate each other's guts!"
Reflecting on growing up with his famous father, Kirk Douglas, amidst stars like Frank Sinatra and Tony Curtis, Michael shared the best advice and humor he inherited. "Between the two of us, we have about 130 films, 8 decades in the movie business. The one line he did say to me was, 'Michael, if I knew how successful you were going to be, I would've been nicer!'"
