Hollywood legend responds after Michael Douglas admits they had affair while he was married

Kathleen Turner has spoken out after Michael Douglas revealed they had an affair decades ago (Picture: Getty) Kathleen Turner has responded after Michael Douglas revealed the pair were secretly lovers while filming Romancing the Stone – four decades after they repeatedly denied anything happened.

Douglas, 82, has blown apart the long-standing official version of events in his new memoir, One Helluva Ride, admitting that the famous chemistry between the Hollywood stars wasn’t entirely acting.

Now Turner, 72, has broken her silence on her former co-star’s confession and she seems considerably less shocked by the revelation than everyone else.

‘Good heavens what a fuss about something 40 years ago!’ she told People in a statement.

‘I love Michael and I look forward to enjoying the book.’

Douglas and Turner starred opposite each other as adventurer Jack Colton and romance novelist Joan Wilder in 1984 blockbuster Romancing the Stone, with their electric on-screen chemistry helping turn the film into a huge hit.

For decades, however, both maintained that despite being attracted to one another, their relationship never became physical. According to Douglas, that story simply wasn’t true.

‘The chemistry I had with Kathleen Turner was so strong, audiences have been certain for years that we were in a relationship together while making the film,’ he writes in an excerpt of his memoir published by People.

He recalled how the pair continued to deny the rumours through subsequent projects, before declaring of their carefully maintained version of events: ‘That was a lie.’

Douglas, who was married to first wife Diandra Luker at the time, claims the couple were separated and both having relationships with other people when he and Turner began their romance.

He describes being ‘knocked sideways’ by Turner and says their relationship evolved from friendship to co-stars and eventually lovers.

The pair apparently became adept at keeping their romance under wraps while filming in Mexico.

After long days shooting, Douglas says they would eat together – sometimes alongside the rest of the cast and crew – before he would secretly visit Turner’s hotel room once everyone else had gone to bed.

Even their Romancing the Stone collaborators Danny DeVito and director Robert Zemeckis were apparently unaware of what was happening.

However, the affair came to an end when Diandra arrived on set with the couple’s son Cameron.

Douglas claims his estranged wife suspected something was happening and spoke privately to Turner, making it clear that she still considered the pair married.

Turner subsequently decided she did not want to interfere in their relationship, while Douglas returned to his marriage for the sake of his son.

Diandra filed for divorce in 1995, with their split finalised in 2000. Douglas married Catherine Zeta-Jones later that year, and the couple remain together.

Turner, meanwhile, had previously come tantalisingly close to confirming there was more to their relationship than friendship, while stopping short of saying they had actually had an affair.

Speaking in 2021, she admitted she had been ‘yearning’ for her co-star and described the pair as sharing ‘wonderful sexual tension’.

‘When you really, really know you want somebody – and I’m saying it went both ways – and you can’t have them,’ she told People at the time.

Two years later, Turner told The Guardian that she believed she and Douglas ‘might have been falling in love’, recalling how Diandra’s arrival made clear to her that Douglas was not available.

‘So that ended that because I can’t get involved with another woman’s relationship,’ she said.

Douglas’s new account reveals there was considerably more to the story. Despite whatever happened in Mexico, Turner and Douglas managed something arguably more impressive than keeping a Hollywood affair quiet for 40 years: remaining friends afterwards.

They reunited for 1985 sequel The Jewel of the Nile and 1989 black comedy The War of the Roses, before sharing the screen again decades later in Netflix series The Kominsky Method.

Douglas says he sought Turner’s permission before finally putting their secret history into print.

One Helluva Ride is released on October 6.

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Get plugged into the week’s must-watch shows, unmissable moments, and expert reviews with Metro TV Editor Sabrina Barr.

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