Hugh Jackman Shares His Secrets to a Long-Lasting Marriage: 'Never Go to Bed on a Cross Word'
Hugh Jackman has been happily married to wife Deborra-Lee Furness for 23 — and he’s sharing his secrets.
The actor stopped by the Today show to announce his upcoming world tour, when cohost Hoda Kotb asked him why he thinks his marriage has lasted so long when couples in Hollywood have a hard time staying together. The actor, 50, answered with all the things he and Furness, 62, do to keep their union happy.
“We’re really honest with each other, we talk about everything,” he started. “Deb had a few rules when we met, ‘cause she’d done a few movies. She said we won’t spend more than two weeks apart. We never go to bed on a cross word. Sometimes it’s 3 o’clock in the morning, but we kind of work it out before we go to sleep.”
He continued, “And being honest. I think relationships, you gotta be yourself, even the bits you don’t love, the bits you’re embarrassed about or things you did wrong. If you’re in a situation where you can be yourself and really be honest, that’s a good start.”
Jackman also took a moment to brag about how lucky he got with Furness: “And then if you marry the sexiest, funniest, most beautiful woman in the world, that’s a great start.”
The two met in 1995 on the set of the Australian TV show Correlli and married 11 months later in April 1996. They’ve since welcomed son Oscar, 18, and daughter Ava, 13, and are as tight as ever. Jackman said he was thankful he established his relationship long before reaching superstardom through hit roles in movies like X-Men.
“I really think it helps that we were together before any of that,” he said. “So we’ve been on this unbelievable journey, places we never thought we’d go to and we’ve done it together.”
