Michael Douglas and Catherine Zeta-Jones separate after 13 years of marriage

Michael Douglas and Catherine Zeta-Jones separate after 13 years of marriage

Michael Douglas and Catherine Zeta-Jones have separated after 13 years of marriage.

The Hollywood celebrity couple have endured a torrid time in recent years, with Douglas battling cancer and his wife having bipolar disorder.

Insiders claimed “the stress has taken a toll on their marriage”.

Speculation has raged for months that the pair â€" both winners of Oscars â€" were about to call it a day.

There was speculation last night that Douglas apparently saying in June that performing oral sex on women may have triggered his throat cancer put a strain on his marriage.

He’d said: “Without wanting to get too specific, this particular cancer is caused by HPV, which actually comes about from oral sex.”

Earlier a spokesman for Douglas said: “Michael and Catherine are taking some time apart to evaluate and work on their marriage.”

One source went further insisting the marriage had effectively ended â€" and did months ago.

< p>The insider claimed: “It’s all  over. It’s finished. There is no way back.”

A representative confirmed the couple are having troubles

Douglas, 68, is holidaying in Sardinia alone while Welsh-born actress Zeta-Jones, 43, is in New York with their children.

The couple have not been seen together since April 22 when they posed on the red carpet at the 40th Annual Chaplin Award Gala at Avery Fisher Hall in New York.

Reports say they haven’t consulted divorce lawyers yet nor made moves to make the separation legal.

One family friend said: “They both want the best for their kids, no matter what.”

Intriguingly the statement was released through Douglas’s long-time friend and agent Allen Burry rather than Zeta-Jones’s PR team, appearing to corroborate a report last week that Douglas was calling the shots.

An insider had said: “Catherine is fighting to save the marriage but he’s had it.”

Douglas was pictured last week arriving by private jet on the Mediterranean island of Sardinia.

The actor was spotted playing golf on his own, which he usually does with Z eta-Jones.

The couple reportedly decided to spend time alone once Douglas had returned from this year’s Cannes Film Festival in France.

When both are in the States, Douglas is said to be living in Manhattan while his wife stays at their £2million home in New York State with kids Dylan, 13, and Carys, 10.

She recently insisted it was business as usual, insisting: “Michael’s doing a movie on the East Coast with Diane Keaton, so he’s working.

"My children are actually at sleep-away camp, so I’m missing them desperately.”

Michael Douglas and Catherine Zeta Jones in happier times

When Zeta-Jones, who won the Best Supporting Actress Academy Award in 2002 for her role in Chicago, was asked about the secret to their long-lasting marriage, she replied: “Respect, space and a sense of humour.

"We spend a hell of a lot of time together so we are careful to maintain our space.

“We recently had an extension built to house a closet. I go in there and never come out.

"My husband knocks on the door and says, ‘Can I come in?’

"But I’ve got a TV in there, and my daughter brings her friends in â€" they play shop, put on all my stuff. I could be in there for the whole day happily.”

Yet despite the denials, there has still been the speculation.

In February, it was reported by a US magazine that the pair were to separate in a “hush hush” divorce.

Both denied the claim. Now it seems the marriage has “buckled” under various pressures.

Douglas fought a cancer battle in 2010 as his actor son Cameron, 34 , was jailed for drugs.

Zeta-Jones revealed in 2011 â€" the year she received a CBE â€" she was struggling with bipolar II disorder, a depression condition.

When Douglas, who won the Best Actor Oscar for playing Gordon Gekko in 1987 hit Wall Street, divorced his first wife Diandra in 2000 after 23 years, she was awarded around £30million.

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