Catherine Zeta-Jones and Michael Douglas. Vianney Le Caer/Invision/AP/Shutterstock
Trying to keep his putter in his pants. Michael Douglas opened up about the NSFW bet he and wife Catherine Zeta-Jones have while playing a private round of golf.
The Wall Street star, 78, discussed their “rules” during an interview with The Guardian published on Thursday, March 2, in which he answered fans’ questions. One person — following up on Zeta-Jones’ admission of their bet in 2016 — asked the Fatal Attraction star if the agreement was still in effect.
“The rules are I have to whip it out if I don’t hit it past the ladies’ tees, which I manage most of the time,” Douglas responded. “But there have been times when we’re playing alone, and have to give her a little show because we are competitive. But only when I play with my wife.”
Zeta-Jones, 53 — who has been married to Douglas since 2000 and shares son Dylan, 22, and daughter Carys, 19, with the Kominsky Method alum — first shared the story of their bet on The Graham Norton Show in 2016.
“We have a bet that if he ducks a shot, he has to drop his pants,” the Chicago actress revealed at the time, joking that she has the same rule for “any man” she plays golf with.
“There has been an issue with paparazzi, so I make him go into the bushes,” she quipped. “A deal is a deal.”
While the pair have been open about their love life over the past two decades, Douglas infamously came under fire in 2013 after making bold — and unfounded — claims that he contracted cancer after performing oral sex on his wife.
“Without wanting to get too specific, this particular cancer is caused by HPV [human papillomavirus], which actually comes about from cunnilingus,” he told The Guardian at the time, joking, “And if you have it, cunnilingus is also the best cure for it.” That August, they briefly separated after nearly 13 years of marriage.
Michael Douglas and Catherine Zeta-Jones attend the PGA Grand Slam of Golf tournament. Rob Carr/AP/Shutterstock
Two years later, Douglas apologized for his remarks. “It was one of those things … and I so regretted any embarrassment that it caused Catherine and her family,” he told Event magazine in 2015.
Speaking of their split, he added, “We had a little bump in the road. The problem in this business is that everything is so public. I love Catherine as much, more than I ever have. And hopefully the feeling’s mutual. We worked things out – if both people want to work something out and make it better, you can do it. You can’t do it if it’s just one person.”
The couple, who celebrated 22 years of marriage in November 2022, reconciled shortly after the drama. Around the time of their anniversary last year, however, Zeta-Jones revealed that she almost gave her husband a health scare while surprising him on Thanksgiving.
“Michael has been in France for what seems like a lifetime shooting a really great project. So the kids and I actually surprised him for Thanksgiving,” the Academy Award winner revealed on The Kelly Clarkson Show at the time. “He had no idea [we were coming]. … I thought he was going to have a heart attack for one minute. He stumbled back and went, ‘Oh my God!’ and started crying.”