a crazed stalker who threatened some
seriously gruesome crimes an odd
explanation for a cancer diagnosis a
super specific prenuptial agreement here
are a few strange things about the fairy
tale romance between catherine zeta
jones and michael douglas
introduced by danny devito in 1998
catherine zeta jones and michael
douglas's courtship was nothing short of
a whirlwind despite the former's
admission to people that quote we never
even kissed until nine months later but
that didn't seem to slow douglas down at
all he proposed on new year's eve in
1999 and the couple had their first
child together dylan in august 2000 they
were married three months later which
according to douglas is actually a
miracle since he felt he flubbed their
initial meeting pretty badly during an
appearance on the jonathan ross show
douglas admitted that one of the first
things he said to her was you know
i'm going to be the father of your
children
after a line so skeezy even a hollywood
legend like douglas couldn't pull it off
zeta jones response was classic she said
you know i've heard a lot about you
and i've seen a lot about you and i
think it's time that i say good night
ouch supposedly he won her back with
roses and an apology note no doubt his
status as a romantic heartthrob helped
his case here we're pretty sure if some
dude in a grocery store suggested he was
going to put a baby in catherine zeta
jones then followed her to her car with
flowers it would probably have ended in
pepper spray and a restraining order not
one of hollywood's most celebrated
marriages
because prenuptial agreements are legal
documents between private citizens they
aren't public record that means there's
always a huge amount of speculation
around hollywood prenups for the obvious
reason that they deal with celebrities
and huge sums of money and naturally the
one between michael douglas and
catherine zeta-jones has become the
stuff of legend
according to the telegraph zeta jones
father was reportedly embattled with
douglas's attorneys over her demands
that she received quote 3 million pounds
per year in alimony if the marriage
fails or he dies there were also rumors
of a cheating clause which would pay
zeta jones an additional lump sum if
douglas strayed outside the marriage
while there's a lot of speculation there
there's also good reason for it
according to harper's bazaar douglas's
first marriage to deandra luker ended
with one of the biggest divorce
settlements in hollywood sordid history
weighing in at a rumored 45 million
dollars
people also reported that their 1995
split came about in part due to his
infidelity when douglas went to rehab in
1992 for substance use it was widely
believed he was also there for treatment
of sex addiction according to biographer
john parker while in group therapy
douglas allegedly admitted
sex is just a wave that sweeps over me
an impulse that is overpowering i'm
helpless every time it should be noted
that douglas has denied the sex
addiction angle but regardless those
rumors help explain why his prenup with
zeta jones might have such interesting
and specific clauses
an older man getting married to a much
younger woman isn't particularly rare
with celebrities but in hollywood it's
almost become a cliche
despite the fact that it's not unusual
for even regular men to have younger
wives the 25-year age gap between
douglas and zeta jones is still
significant
not only that but michael douglas and
catherine zeta-jones actually have the
same birthday which is certainly not
typical
still the couple has a great sense of
humor about their age difference in an
interview with jonathan ross douglas
said we joke all the time about when i
reach my 80s and she's wheeling me
around and i'm saying whoa where are we
going and she will say cartier darlene
cartier it's your favorite store
zeta jones take is just as amused as she
joked to people at night he lets me hold
the tv remote until he starts to get
tired then he gives me carte blanche to
turn everything off so they seem to know
how to deftly handle any trophy wife or
robbie in the cradle commentary although
it's always fun to do the numbers and
point out stuff like when michael
douglas was already a full-blown
hollywood megastar headlining movies
like romancing the stone and jewel of
the nile his wife was still in high
school in 2010 douglas shocked the world
when he announced that he had throat
cancer even more surprising though is
the fact that he didn't instead he
actually had tongue cancer but chose to
tell everyone it was in his throat on
the advice of his surgeon
why according to douglas the doctors
told him what we want to know why is it
if we do have to do surgery it's not
going to be pretty you know you lose
part of your jaw and your tongue and you
know and all of that stuff
douglas caused himself more problems
though when he tried to explain the root
of his health scare in a now infamous
interview with the guardian douglas was
asked if he thought his years of tobacco
use caused the cancer he said no because
the type of cancer he had may have been
caused by hpv human papillomavirus a
sexually transmitted infection that can
be contracted orally
rumor has it that zita jones wasn't very
happy with the interview which was
published in june 2013 by late august
two months later douglas's rep confirmed
to the mirror that the couple had
separated to quote evaluate and work on
their marriage obviously neither he nor
catherine zeta-jones has ever come out
and said their break was due to his
comments but after reconciling a few
months later douglas hinted to ellen
degeneres that all the attention didn't
really help things saying the only
problem is as you well know we're all in
the public eye and it tends to get a
little more exposed than most the good
news despite what douglas called quote a
bump in the road he and zeta jones are
still going strong today and he has been
cancer-free since 2011.
while it may seem on the face of it like
catherine zeta-jones and michael
douglas's separation was entirely caused
by his infamous remarks there was
actually a lot more to the story than
that
in 2010 the year douglas was diagnosed
with tongue cancer his son from his
first marriage cameron was sentenced to
five years in prison for drug
trafficking charges
also during this time the stress from
dealing with her husband's illness and
stepson's incarceration exacerbated zeta
jones's yet to be diagnosed bipolar
disorder to the point where she entered
a rehab facility for treatment for it in
early 2011. that is a lot for one couple
to deal with in such a short amount of
time
according to abc news zeta jones's
publicist issued a statement attributing
her time at the facility to dealing with
all the stresses of the previous year
but by 2013 after the couple had
reconciled the star told the telegraph
that she felt she had a good handle on
her mental health
i'm looking forward to the sunshine more
i get a bit gloomy when it's gloomy but
i'm looking forward to the sun my kids
are doing great at school i am very
happy we live a blessed life but she
also told good morning america that she
was ready to move on you know what i'm
sick of talking about it
because i never wanted to be the poster
child for this right and i never wanted
this to come out publicly that's a
remarkable turnaround time to bounce
back from three major life events that
each on their own had the power to drive
a permanently damaging wedge in a
marriage
another strain on zeta jones's mental
health and her marriage to douglas was a
high-profile 2004 stalking case dealing
with stalkers is unfortunately par for
the course for a lot of celebrities it's
always creepy regardless of the degree
of the severity but in michael douglas
and catherine zeta-jones case it was
especially disturbing during the
preliminary hearing for donette knight
the woman accused of making threatening
phone calls and sending graphically
violent letters to the couple zeta jones
testified that she had multiple panic
attacks as a result of the continual
harassment
allegedly enraged over rumors that zita
jones had an affair with george clooney
during the filming of ocean's 12 knight
carried out her reign of terror over a
period of a year and a half sending
numerous death threats to zeta jones
including a promise to slice her up like
meat on a bone and feed her to the dogs
knight eventually served eight months in
jail but the ordeal had a lasting effect
on ceda jones who said through a
statement at the trial your actions will
be with me for the rest of my life how i
will be constantly observing looking
over my shoulder it's inside i'm i'm as
vulnerable as you know as anybody else
given the unique marriage they have it's
no surprise that the couple also has had
a very unique living situation in
several ways firstly they don't share a
bathroom in a 2006 interview with the
daily mail zeta jones said separate
bathrooms is always a really great idea
mine is so messy i'd hate for my husband
to realize just how incredibly cluttery
i can be
it's not just separate bathrooms either
they have entirely separate living
spaces they can go to when needed zita
jones told the telegraph we spend a hell
of a lot of time together so we are
careful to maintain our space we
recently had an extension built to house
a closet
it's like the tardis i go in there and
never come out we love the idea of zeta
jones as the next doctor she went on to
say
my husband knocks on the door and says
can i come in but i've got a tv in there
and my daughter brings her friends in
they play shop put on all my stuff i
could be in there for the whole day
happily
separate spaces in their home isn't the
only unique thing about their living
arrangements though in 2002 the
celebrity couple decided to get away
from all the attention by moving their
family to bermuda for seven years they
raised their two children on a little
slice of paradise having completely
renovated a four bedroom cottage to
include guest quarters and custom
interior
they eventually moved back to the us to
be closer to work but they still own the
cottage which they rent out for 28
thousand dollars a month and it's not
the only luxury retreat they own either
considering they didn't even want to
share a bathroom with each other you
might be surprised to learn that for 20
years douglas and zeta jones shared a
250 acre estate on mallorca with
douglas's ex-wife film producer deandra
luker when douglas and luke are divorced
in 2000 they agreed to a timeshare split
where they each got the house for six
months a year in 2020 douglas finally
bought out luker's share to end the
awkward arrangement he told ultima aura
it was very uncomfortable sharing the
property with my ex-wife deandra six
months for each of us wasn't very
pleasant for anyone
when catherine zeta-jones and michael
douglas tied the knot in 2000 at new
york's plaza hotel it was one of the
largest celebrity weddings of the era
photos from the event were so sought
after that they even sparked a tabloid
lawsuit according to the guardian ok
exclusively purchased rights to the
official wedding snaps but the event was
infiltrated by paparazzi their tabloid
rival hello somehow managed to obtain
these illicit images voiding okay's
investment and igniting a court battle
according to the daily mail hello
ultimately ended up paying more than 1
million pounds at the time zeta jones
lamb basted the paparazzi shots as quote
sleazy and unflattering but the weird
part was she didn't actually see her
official wedding photos for years in
2020 she allegedly told the daily mail i
looked at the proofs and that was it i
never made an album the photographer got
in touch recently so about three weeks
ago i got to see all my wedding
photographs it was a wonderful day where
most couples wait two minutes to look at
their official wedding photos the actors
somehow waited two decades no matter how
strange it may seem to outsiders though
it's clear douglas and zeta jones have
formed a relationship that works for
their family i'm so happy that we've
made it's been 20 years together and
it's been
it's been great
if you or anyone you know is struggling
with addiction issues help is available
visit the substance abuse and mental
health services administration website
or contact sam hsa's national helpline
at
1-800-662-help 4357
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