Last week Michael Douglas & Catherine Zeta-Jones announced that they had made a mutual decision to “take some time apart” and “work on their marriage”.
He has been spending time alone, in the South of France, while she is with her mum and two children in New York.
Douglas, 68, is said to have given up on the union some time ago and has already consulted lawyers, though neither he nor Catherine, 43, is said to be filing for a divorce at this stage.
The couple, who married in November 2000, have not been seen together in public since April 22.
They are said to have made the decision to split in May after Douglas returned from this year’s Cannes Film Festival, but chose to make the official announcement yesterday.
“Catherine and Michael are taking some time apart to evaluate and work on their marriage. There will be no further comment.” A spokesman for Zeta-Jones said.
In recent months, they have drifted increasingly apart. It was claimed in February that Douglas had moved out and gone to live nearby while they considered their future.
He was also said to have moved out for a time last summer, but returned because of concerns for her health.
There have been reports of vicious arguments. He is said to have accused her of “giving up” on Cameron, his son from his first marriage, who he regularly visits in prison in Pennsylvania, taking their two children Carys, ten, and Dylan, 13, with him. But Catherine has never been seen there.
They decided last year to give living apart a go, while co-parenting the kids, but now they barely see each other. Rather than help them decide what was wrong and what needed fixing, it made it clear to them both that they were so much happier and calmer apart.
Douglas has been living in their huge apartment in Manhattan while Catherine has been at their upstate home with Dylan and Carys. Her mother has moved in with them. The story is that he has been visiting at the weekends. It is he, not Catherine, who wants to call time on the marriage.
A source said last week: “The marriage is effectively over. Catherine is fighting to save the marriage but he’s had it. Michael has been through so much in the past few years he feels that life is too short for all this misery.”
Someone who spent time with the couple recently said that the 25-year age gap has been a factor: “Michael has gotten to be a mean old man. He finds fault in her all the time, it is an ugly atmosphere. He is grouchy and hard to live with. They have been arguing for years.”
You have comments? Comment below or email me at lozza@news.raveituptv.com
Original Source: Herald Sun
