Michael Douglas has rejected the long-running sex addiction rumour surrounding him, while insisting his forthcoming memoir, One Helluva Ride, is not “full of sex.” The discussion unfolded during a notably tense interview with The Sunday Times, where questions about his relationships received answers ranging from corrective to openly irritated.

The 82-year-old actor said the book mentions only “a couple” of former partners. The reporter then pointed out that Douglas describes ending relationships “with five women” before becoming serious with Catherine Zeta-Jones.

“No, no, it’s not what it was,” Douglas replied.

He said Zeta-Jones told him that if their relationship continued, she wanted it to be monogamous. Douglas then made calls that evening to people he had been seeing and ended those relationships. “And that was that,” he said.

The reporter wrote that a silence followed, with Douglas appearing to believe he had corrected the record. Technically, five phone calls may have clarified the situation. They did not make the number five disappear.

Why did the interview become tense?

Douglas also rejected the suggestion that he had slept “with so many women” during his life, saying he did not view his past that way.

“No, not me, no,” he said. “I was a healthy product of the ’60s.”

He then questioned why British journalists seemed especially interested in his sex life. According to the reporter, his tone became “accusatory” and his eyes narrowed during the exchange.

The Basic Instinct star also addressed reports from the 1990s that he had entered rehabilitation for sex addiction. Douglas said the story was false and blamed a British tabloid editor for creating it.

“Thank you very much, here we are talking about it at 82,” he said, adding that tabloids in Britain were particularly well known for such coverage. “It wasn’t true.”

Douglas is even more direct in the memoir, which is due out Tuesday. According to the newspaper, he writes that he “was never a f–king sex addict.” Subtle phrasing was apparently not required for that chapter.

What does the memoir reveal about Kathleen Turner?

Although Douglas disputes the broader claims about his sex life, the memoir does confirm his previously secret relationship with Kathleen Turner, his co-star in the 1984 adventure film Romancing the Stone.

The pair kept the affair private for roughly 40 years. Douglas describes their connection on set as a “magic spell” and says it was more than a “fly-by-night affair.” Turner, now 72, responded on Friday by dismissing the “fuss” surrounding the revelation.

Their relationship took place while Douglas was married to his first wife, Diandra Luker, although the couple were separated at the time. Douglas and Luker later divorced in 2000.

Later that year, he married Zeta-Jones, who is now 57. The couple have since spent more than 25 years together, though their marriage included a brief separation in 2013.

How did Douglas describe his marriage?

The interview returned to uncomfortable territory when Douglas was asked how he had “won her back” after the 2013 split. He objected to that description and stressed that the reconciliation was mutual.

“You know, we had our problems but I love her dearly and, 25 years, you know,” he said.

The reporter again described Douglas as narrowing his eyes. He then turned the question back on the journalist, asking about their marital status before offering his own assessment of long-term relationships.

“Marriage is a lot of work,” Douglas said. “And so, you know, we’re good. We’re in good shape. It’s all I can say.”

A representative for Douglas did not immediately respond to a request for further comment.