Michael Douglas Reveals He and Kathleen Turner Were Once Secret ‘Lovers,’ Admits They Lied About It for 40 Years (Exclusive)

Eric AnderssonFri, October 2, 2026 at 12:00 PM UTC

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Michael Douglas and Kathleen Turner in ‘Romancing the Stone’; Douglas’s memoir ‘One Helluva Ride’Credit: Alamy; Grand Central Publishing -

Michael Douglas reveals he and Kathleen Turner were secret ‘lovers’ while making the 1984 movie Romancing the Stone

The two-time Oscar winner admits neither he nor Turner have publicly told the truth about it until now

Douglas makes the revelation in his new memoir, One Helluva Ride, out Tuesday, Oct. 6

Michael Douglas is revealing a romantic relationship from his past — one he kept a secret for four decades.

In his new memoir One Helluva Ride, the two-time Oscar winner, now 82, recalls how he and his Romancing the Stone costar Kathleen Turner, now 72, fell for each other while making the 1984 blockbuster in Mexico. At the time, he was separated from his then-wife Diandra Douglas, with whom he shares son Cameron.

Douglas, who was a producer on the action-comedy — about New York City romance novelist Joan Wilder (Turner) who rescues her sister from kidnappers in Colombia with the help of dashing adventurer Jack Colton (Douglas) — initially wanted Debra Winger to play the leading lady, but ultimately, that didn’t work out.

He then met on-the-rise star Turner for lunch to talk to her about the role, which she eventually won. The following is an excerpt from One Helluva Ride.

Kathleen was smart, funny, and sexy with a deep, sultry voice that became her signature. I instantly liked her, and we were immediately attracted to each other.

Things at home were in a bad place. Diandra and I were both having extramarital affairs, including my recent romance with Diane Thomas [Romancing the Stone’s screenwriter].

Michael Douglas and Kathleen Turner in ‘Romancing the Stone’Credit: Shutterstock

I never asked Diandra to change who she was, but having found out who I was after she fell in love with me and married me, Diandra constantly asked me to change. It created enormous problems between us. Cameron, who was now five, felt that strain in my absence, and that weighed on me even more than the strife in the marriage…. I left for Mexico still technically married, but separated.

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. We both denied it through Romancing The Stone, Jewel of the Nile, War of the Roses, and even while doing press a few years ago for The Kominsky Method.

The official story went as follows: Yes, we confessed, we had amazing chemistry. Yes, we were both, as Kathleen said, “terrible flirts,’” and yes, we were both tempted, but nothing ever happened between us.

That was a lie.

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Michael Douglas and Kathleen Turner in ‘Romancing the Stone’Credit: Alamy

It was a lie meant to protect my wife and son, a lie we told the world for 40 years. In fact, during a People magazine interview only a few years ago Kathleen held to it, saying, “Oh I was yearning, babe, but he was still married... It was that wonderful sexual tension, you know? When you really, really know you want somebody — and I’m saying it went both ways — and you can’t have them…”

The truth is that during the production of Romancing the Stone, Kathleen and I fell hard for each other and began a relationship. It wasn’t a fly-by night affair; it grew naturally from how closely we were working together, how much pressure we were under, how much we respected and cared for one another, and how attracted we were to each other. Like every other guy in the world at the time, I was knocked sideways by Kathleen....

Michael Douglas’s memoir ‘One Helluva Ride’Credit: Grand Central Publishing

Kathleen and I never hit a rough spot. We found each other first as friends, then as co-stars, and finally as lovers. Following an exhausting day of shooting in the jungle, we’d go out and have a meal, or head out with the group and afterward I would sneak into her hotel room after everybody was asleep. There were no cameras in elevators, no assistants using cell phones to take pictures. As Jack and Joan were falling in love, Kathleen and I were keeping the chemistry alive. We kept our involvement hidden. Even [director] Bob [Zemeckis] and [costar] Danny [DeVito] were unaware.

The magic spell of the set was broken when Diandra brought Cameron down to Mexico. I was so happy to have my son there, but their arrival created another problem. While Bob and Danny had no clue about my affair with Kathleen, Diandra grew suspicious. A woman’s intuition, I suppose. At some point, she was alone with Kathleen and made it clear to her that we were still married. Her view of the terms of our separation was different from mine. This gave Kathleen pause. She didn’t want to interfere.

Even though Diandra and I were having major problems in our relationship, we had our own son to think about. My parents’ divorce had really hurt me as a child, and Cameron was right about the same age I was when my parents split. After that visit, Kathleen and I ended things, and I went back to Diandra. I did it for Cameron, but we shouldn’t have gotten back together. After that first split it was never the same between us ever again.

Credit: Everett

When Romancing the Stone came out in 1984, it was a smash hit. The studio, 20th Century Fox, wanted a sequel by the following Christmas, but Turner — who was under contract — had no interest in making a follow-up. The studio filed a $25 million breach of contract lawsuit at L.A. Superior Court, and she in turn hired infamous attorney Roy Cohn to represent her. But, as Douglas notes, Turner “had no case. She had a contract and she had to honor it.” The lawsuit went away, the two stars buried the hatchet, and Turner (who by then had married real estate developer Jay Weiss) even helped Douglas punch up the script for The Jewel of the Nile, which Douglas felt needed work.

And as we sat across from each other, rebuilding the movie, it felt a little like we were also repairing things between us, finally getting over everything that had come before. Trading pages back and forth, negotiating over lines, laughing at scenes and picturing our characters going at each other in every way imaginable... It felt good knowing we were back on solid ground.

Michael Douglas and Kathleen Turner in 2012Credit: Robin Marchant/Getty

Following The Jewel of the Nile, Douglas — who has been married to Catherine Zeta-Jones since 2000 — and Turner also reunited on War of the Roses in 1989 and the third season of The Kominsky Method in 2021. Their good friendship endures to this day — and Douglas writes that he even asked his pal for permission to include their story in his book. As Douglas told PEOPLE in 2021 while promoting The Kominsky Method, “You protect and cherish when you’ve got a good relationship.”

Excerpted from ONE HELLUVA RIDE by Michael Douglas, published on October 6, 2026. Copyright © 2026 by Santa Barbara Productions, Inc. Used by arrangement with Grand Central Publishing, a division of Hachette Book Group, Inc. All rights reserved.

One Helluva Rideby Michael Douglas goes on sale Oct. 6 and is available for preorder now, wherever books are sold.

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