Kathleen Turner reacts after Michael Douglas confirms their decades-old secret affair in memoir

Kathleen Turner has responded with amusement to the widespread attention surrounding Michael Douglas confirming their long-hidden affair after decades of public denials. The actor revealed the past romance in his upcoming memoir, titled One Helluva Ride, ending four decades of speculation about the relationship between the two co-stars.

Turner, 72, addressed the sudden rush of headlines in a brief statement provided to People. Dismissing the intense public interest, she offered a nonchalant reaction to the long-kept secret finally coming to light. Good heavens, what a fuss about something that happened forty years ago, she quipped, adding that she still loves her former co-star and looks forward to reading his book.

For four decades, the pair consistently maintained strict denials regarding any romantic involvement. While Turner occasionally hinted at strong feelings over the years—admitting in interviews that she had a crush, experienced intense sexual tension, and was yearning while he was still married—she never explicitly confirmed an affair until now.

In One Helluva Ride, Douglas, 82, details how their connection evolved during the filming of Romancing the Stone. He describes their relationship as deepening naturally over time. They reportedly found each other first as friends, transitioned into co-stars, and eventually became lovers during the intense production schedule.

The actor writes that after exhausting days shooting in the jungle, he would sneak into Turner’s hotel room late at night after everyone else had fallen asleep. He notes that the liaison was substantial rather than a fleeting fling, bridging their professional chemistry into a personal relationship away from the cameras.

According to the memoir, the relationship ultimately concluded when Douglas’s then-wife, Diandra Luker, and their son Cameron visited the production set. Luker confronted Turner directly during the visit, prompting Turner to step back because she did not want to interfere with a family.

Following the confrontation, the co-stars mutually ended their intimate relationship. Douglas writes that he subsequently returned to his marriage for the sake of his son, though he reflects in the book that they should not have reconciled and that things were never the same between them again. Douglas and Luker eventually divorced in 1995 before he married Catherine Zeta-Jones, while Turner was married to Jay Weiss from 1984 until 2007.

The revelation brings definitive confirmation to a long-rumored chapter from Hollywood history. With both actors looking back at the past, Turner’s lighthearted dismissal highlights how distant those jungle-set days truly are, even as readers eagerly await the full release of the memoir.