Catherine Zeta-Jones And Michael Douglas' Family: 25-Year Age Gap And Cancer Fight

Jul 28, 2020 by apost team

Hollywood movie stars Michael Douglas and Catherine Zeta-Jones have been together for two decades and are still just as in love as they were in the honeymoon years of their relationship.

Just like every couple, Zeta-Jones and Douglas have had a number of hardships and times when their relationship was not exactly rosy. Nevertheless, they've always found a way to work their issues out and get through everything that might come their way together.

Douglas laid his eyes on his now-wife for the very first time in 1998 at the Deauville Film Festival in France, after they were introduced to one another by mutual friends Antonio Banderas and Melanie Griffith. According to the actor, the two might have had a rocky start but had an instant spark nevertheless. 

 "I looked at her, and I said, 'Catherine, I’m going to be the father of your children,'" Douglas said, according to the Hollywood Reporter. "The first time I met her! You think that went over big?"

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The two were inseparable thereafter. They even share the same birthday, September 25, just with a 25-year gap. Their age difference, however, does not faze Zeta-Jones one bit. The couple got married in 2000, just three months following the birth of their first child together, Dylan Michael. They also had a second child in 2003, a daughter named Carys Zeta.

Speaking of their age gap, Douglas told Ellen earlier this year that his younger wife makes him "feel good."

Despite their image as the ultimate Hollywood relationship-goals, Zeta-Jones and Douglas have had their fair share of ups-and-downs during their relationship. In 2010, Douglas was diagnosed with tongue cancer. The actor then went through chemotherapy and radiotherapy and was eventually given the clear from his doctors a year later.

"When Michael was diagnosed with cancer I really thought, 'You are going to have to wipe me off the floor,'" Zeta-Jones told Stella magazine at the time of her husband's diagnosis. "This happens to people all the time, but it's still a huge shock when the cards start to fall and you realize, 'My God, it really is happening to us.'"

"I thought I didn't have the tools to cope," she added. "But it's amazing where the strength comes from—from family and friends, from strangers supporting us."

As her husband battled cancer, Zeta-Jones naturally went through her own hardships and, in 2011, announced she had checked herself into a mental health facility for manic depression, which her spokesperson at the time said had come after "dealing with the stress of the past year", according to the Guardian. 

And then in 2013, after 13 years of marriage, the couple announced they were calling it splits, according to the Daily Mail. Clearly, they couldn't stand to be away from each other and just a year later managed to reconcile and put their differences behind them. 

"I think we're both mellower and wiser. That comes naturally with time," Zeta-Jones told AARP at the time. "We count our blessings."

What do you think of Michael Douglas and Catherine Zeta-Jones seeing their marriage through? Let us know in the comments – and make sure you pass this along to your friends and family!