Michael Douglas has admitted that he had a secret affair with Kathleen Turner while they were filming Romancing the Stone, ending four decades of public denials.
The 82-year-old actor makes the revelation in his forthcoming memoir, One Helluva Ride, describing Turner as “smart, funny and sexy”.
Douglas says the two stars were immediately attracted to one another and gradually progressed from friends to co-stars and then lovers while making the 1984 action-adventure film in Mexico.
After spending exhausting days shooting in the jungle, they would reportedly have dinner or socialise with the rest of the production team before Douglas secretly visited Turner’s hotel room.
Douglas said they hid the relationship from everyone working on the film, including co-star Danny DeVito and director Robert Zemeckis.
He described their romance as a brief, secretive affair that remained undiscovered throughout much of the production.
Douglas says marriage was already troubled
Douglas was legally married to his first wife, Diandra Luker, when the affair occurred.
However, he claims they were separated at the time and both involved in relationships outside their marriage.
Douglas and Luker married in 1977 and had a son, Cameron, the following year. She filed for divorce in 1995, with the marriage formally ending in 2000.
According to Douglas, the relationship with Turner ended after Luker travelled to the film set with Cameron.
Douglas wrote that his wife had become suspicious and spoke privately to Turner, making it clear that she still regarded Douglas as a married and unavailable man.
“Her view of the terms of our separation was different from mine,” Douglas recalled.
Turner stepped away from the romance following the conversation.
Kathleen Turner reacts to revelation
Turner, now 72, did not dispute Douglas’s account when asked about the memoir revelation.
“Good heavens, what a fuss about something 40 years ago!” she said in a statement to People.
Turner added that she still loved Douglas and looked forward to reading his book, which is scheduled for publication on 6 October.
Douglas reportedly obtained Turner’s permission before including details of their relationship in the memoir.
Turner previously denied affair
Turner had repeatedly acknowledged the intense attraction between herself and Douglas but maintained that they never acted upon it.
In a 2021 interview, she described their relationship as involving “wonderful sexual tension” and said the attraction went both ways, but insisted Douglas’s marriage prevented them from becoming involved.
She offered a similar account in 2023, saying they might have been falling in love before Luker arrived on set and made it clear that Douglas was not available.
Douglas now admits that their public denials were untrue and says the relationship was concealed to protect his wife and young son.
Actors continued working together
Despite ending their romance, Douglas and Turner maintained a successful professional partnership.
They reunited for the 1985 sequel The Jewel of the Nile and starred alongside each other again in the 1989 black comedy The War of the Roses.
Turner later appeared with Douglas in the Netflix series The Kominsky Method.
Douglas married Welsh actress Catherine Zeta-Jones in 2000. They have two children, Dylan and Carys, and celebrated their 25th wedding anniversary in November 2025.
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