Michael Douglas reveals secret Kathleen Turner affair after 40 years - USA Today

Michael Douglas has dropped a bombshell revelation about his history with Kathleen Turner.

The "Fatal Attraction" actor, 82, and his "Romancing the Stone" costar had a private romance despite denying theories for decades, Douglas revealed in his upcoming memoir "One Helluva Ride," out Oct. 6, according to People.

"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," Douglas wrote in the book, People reported.

Douglas said their relationship became intimate after they worked together in Mexico on the 1984 romantic comedy "Romancing the Stone." He also said Turner consented to his sharing details of their relationship in the memoir.

The actors had previously denied speculation about a romance. They went on to reunite for "The Jewel of the Nile," "The War of the Roses" and "The Kominsky Method."

Their on-screen chemistry had translated into the real world around the time his former marriage with his then-wife Diandra Douglas was "in a bad place." He wrote that he and his ex were both having extramarital affairs while their son Cameron, now 46, was just 5 at the time. They were separated at the time, when Douglas flew to Mexico for production.

"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 wrote.

"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."

USA TODAY has reached out to Turner's representative for comment.

"Good heavens what a fuss about something 40 years ago!" Turner told People in a statement. "I love Michael and I look forward to enjoying the book."

The "Ant-Man" actor wrote he withheld the truth from the world about his romance with Turner for 40 years to "protect my wife and son."

"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," he wrote in his book. "Like every other guy in the world at the time, I was knocked sideways by Kathleen."

Douglas wrote that he and Turner "never hit a rough spot," adding that they first found each other as friends, then co-stars and "finally as lovers." He added that director Bob Zemeckis and their co-star Danny DeVito had no clue.

"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," he wrote. "As [their characters] Jack and Joan were falling in love, Kathleen and I were keeping the chemistry alive. We kept our involvement hidden."

Douglas explained that the "magic spell of the set" broke once Diandra Douglas brought their son to Mexico during production.

"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," Douglas wrote.

Despite "enormous problems" in their marriage, they decided to stay together for their son. The actor wrote that he was around Cameron's age when his parents split. And so after his wife and son's visit, he went back to Diandra Douglas, writing "but we shouldn’t have gotten back together. After that first split it was never the same between us ever again."

Douglas and Turner reunited professionally for the 1985 sequel "The Jewel of the Nile." After reading the script, they agreed it needed work and collaborated on revisions, an experience Douglas described as an opportunity to repair their relationship.

"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," he wrote. "It felt good knowing we were back on solid ground."

In 2000, Douglas married Catherine Zeta-Jones. He and Turner have remained friends.