Catherine Zeta-Jones and Michael Douglas have a "very open relationship" and a very open line of communication, both of which have basically helped keep their marriage alive for nearly two decades.
"First of all, I'm so happy that we've made it to be 20 years together. It's been great, but I think it's just unfathomable to me that you would be with one person for 18 years and things are not rosy every day. They're just not," she said while speaking to "Today" on Tuesday. "Both Michael and I have a very open relationship. When you have kids that didn't ask to be born into a world where it's scrutinized or looked into. You've got to be open and honest and share things that probably people at the drugstore wouldn't share over the counter."
That honesty helped when Catherine, 49, and Michael, 74, had a "very big conversation" after sexual misconduct allegations were made against the actor. In fact, their children —Dylan, 18, and Carys, 15 — were in the room when the parents discussed the serious accusation.
Catherine acknowledged she was "devastated" when a woman came forward claiming Michael acted inappropriately toward her 30 years ago, and she also told "Today" that she was "torn about where my absolute morals lie."
In the end, though, "there was nothing to back it up at all," she surmised.
While admitting that her marriage, like all unions, has "ups and downs," she's never given any serious thought to ending it, saying, "I don't throw the towel in very quickly on anything."
The two did separate in 2013, but later reconciled.
"If both of you are willing you know to do it. It can't be a one-way street, but I'm crazy about her and yeah I think every couple has their difficult times," Michael told Ellen DeGeneres of the reconciliation. "The only problem is, as you well know, we're all in the public eye and it tends to get a little more exposed than most. But we're back stronger than ever."
Open dialogue, whether it's pleasant or unpleasant, like the allegations, is a huge part of their family dynamic.
"I'm a big European kind of family girl and so, everything is shared around the table– issues with my daughter, if she's feeling insecure, she's a teenager, girls can be mean," Catherine told the show. "My son just going off to college — what that is for him and what this is for me…all these conversations get around the table and then, I think you clear the air and everyone knows what's going on. It's no big surprises."