Michael Douglas has revealed in his new memoir that Catherine Zeta-Jones made him end relationships with five other women before she agreed to be his girlfriend. The Hollywood star, 82, known for films such as Fatal Attraction, Basic Instinct, Falling Down and Behind the Candelabra, writes about his nine-month pursuit of the Welsh actress in Chapter 15 of his book.
Michael's first sight of Catherine
Douglas admits he fell in love the moment he saw Zeta-Jones on a small movie screen. He was at a friend's house watching an advance screening of the 1998 film The Mask of Zorro when he said out loud, “Wow, who is this girl? She’s incredible.”
Days later, he read an interview where she mentioned she liked older men, which gave him hope despite the 25-year age gap. He was off to the Deauville American Film Festival in August 1998 to promote A Perfect Murder and arranged to meet her there.
The five calls
After months of courtship, Zeta-Jones agreed to visit Douglas at his Spanish home in Mallorca in June 1999. It was then that she laid down her terms, saying she would only be his girlfriend if the relationship was monogamous. In the book, he recalls her saying: “I’m not interested in dating you if you’re dating other people. You can either continue with them or end it and be with me.”
Douglas responded: “Wait here, I have to make five quick calls.” He explains: “Just after my marriage, I had been seeing five other women. They knew I was recently separated and in the process of getting a divorce. I made sure they all lived in different cities, which felt like a respectful way to be nonmonogamous. None of them asked for commitment.”
Marriage and reconciliation
The couple married at the Plaza Hotel in New York at a reputed cost of £1.2 million and have two children, Dylan, 26, and Carys, 23. They briefly separated in 2013 but reconciled the following year. Douglas writes: “From the second we separated, I never gave up hope that we would reconcile. I love Catherine in a way that I have never loved any other woman.”
Zeta-Jones has said one key to their happy relationship is her keeping busy with work. In an interview with the Sunday Times, Douglas said: “Marriage is a lot of work, you know. And so, you know, we're good. We're in good shape. It's all I can say.”
