Dame Joan: The secret of my happy (5th) marriage
AFTER no fewer than four divorces, Dame Joan Collins today reveals she has finally found the secrets to a happy marriage.
The first, she tells The Mail on Sunday Life supplement, is banishing your partner to another room if they snore. And another is sharing the housework. She says honesty and giving compliments are also key factors in keeping a relationship happy.
Dame Joan, 84, gives a revealing and sometimes hilarious insight into her 18-year marriage to 52-yearold theatre manager Percy Gibson in today’s exclusive interview. She says: ‘We are together 24/7 except when he snores, and I say, “Darling, I think it’s best that you sleep in the guest room tonight”.’
She agrees with fellow star Michael Caine about bathroom arrangements in a marriage. ‘Michael once said the secret to a happy marriage is separate bathrooms. We try to keep to that rule. It really does make a difference.
‘Percy and I manage our lives together, even down to household chores. We don’t have live-in staff
‘Of course, we get irritated with each other but we are quick to say sorry and we don’t have any secrets.
‘We compliment each other all the time but I’m also quick to point out if he’s getting a bit of a tummy, and he will say if I’ve gone a bit OTT with the glitz.’
She adds: ‘Percy loves me best when we are at home together – me without make-up and him unshaven and in his tracksuit bottoms.’
Read Dame’s Joan’s full interview in today’s Life