Michael Douglas may never have had his fairytale wedding to Catherine Zeta-Jones if he hadn't heeded her warning at the beginning of their relationship.
The Wall Street actor, 82, revealed the ultimatum Catherine gave him after he admitted he was dating five other women when he met his now-wife.
In his new memoir, One Helluva Ride, the actor details a series of scandals and affairs throughout his life, including how he had women in "different cities" following his divorce from Diandra Luker.
During an appearance on The Graham Norton Show on Friday, October 30, Michael recalled how Catherine warned him to "clean" his act up if he wanted their romance to progress further.
"I was a little surprised! It was very easy to get comfortable with co-stars and sometimes that got carried away," he said when asked if he was surprised at the number of romantic liaisons he had had.
© Instagram"When I courted Catherine, she told me, 'If we are doing this, you need to clean your act up,' he continued. "I was divorced and seeing some other people at the time, so I had to call five women to break things off."
He added in his book that Catherine wasn't interested in dating him "if you’re dating other people. You can either continue with them or end it and be with me."
In his book, Michael explained: "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."
© Getty ImagesThe Oscar winner went on to end all five romances to pursue a relationship with his now-wife, whom he married in a star-studded ceremony at the Plaza Hotel in New York on November 18, 2000.
In his new memoir, Michael recalled the moment he knew Catherine was "the one." "I had never fallen in love on a movie screen before. Until I saw Catherine," he wrote.
"She was magic, in a way that went beyond beauty. And I was certain, as much as I had ever been about anything, that she was the one.
© Instagram"It's the kind of moment that only comes around once in your life, if you're lucky. The one time that you know, without any doubt in your mind, that you're meant to be with someone."
Although the couple experienced many ups and downs throughout their marriage – including a six-month split in 2013 – they have remained as close as ever.
© InstagramIn a 2021 interview with WSJ Magazine, the actress said the secret to making their marriage last is having lots of fun together.
She also shared that "constant love and respect" and maintaining a "sense of humor" are key to marital success.
They now share two children, Dylan, 26, and Carys, 23. Michael also has another son, Cameron, 47, from his first marriage to Diandra.
