Zeta-Jones Asked Douglas to End Other Relationships

Michael Douglas said Catherine Zeta-Jones set a clear condition when their relationship began: he had to end his other romantic relationships. He shared the story during an October 30 appearance on The Graham Norton Show, recalling that he was dating other people when he met her in 1998 at a festival celebrating American films in Deauville, France.

Douglas said he called five women to tell them he would no longer see them. In his memoir, One Helluva Ride, he described having relationships with five women living in different cities after separating from his first wife, Diandra Luker, in 1995. He said the women accepted his decision well.

Douglas and Zeta-Jones married two years after meeting, at New York City’s Plaza Hotel. They have two children, Dylan and Carys; Douglas also has a son, Cameron, from his first marriage. The couple briefly separated in 2013, but Douglas wrote that he remained hopeful they would reunite. In the memoir, he described Zeta-Jones as his wife, closest friend and life partner, and said he could not bear to lose her.