The Aussie babe magnet reveals why there is only one woman for him. Katherine Chatfield reports.
As tropical waters lap gently against the pristine shores of Rio de Janeiro’s idyllic Grumari Beach, Hugh Jackman takes his Mexican belle roughly in his arms and leans in for a passionate kiss – and all within view of his wife of 13 years.
And while the steamy scene would be enough to send even the most forgiving partner into a fit of jealousy, Deborra-lee Furness not only smiles, but takes photos, as she watches on with their children, Oscar, 9, and four-year-old Ava.
After all, she has seen it all before – watching your husband cavort with beautiful young starlets comes with the territory when you’re married to one of the world’s sexiest actors.
“Deb’s amazing, nothing fazes her,” Hugh says of their trusting relationship. “She doesn’t have an ounce of jealousy and there is no competition between us.”
Indeed, the committed family man insisted Deborra-lee – and the kids – accompany him to Brazil for his shoot with sultry actress Ana de la Reguera, after he signed on as the new face of Lipton Ice Tea.
And once the cameras stopped rolling, it was to his wife’s arms he returned. The two wandered hand in hand along the beach as their kids played in the water, and kissed at a dinner with friends, before returning to their suite at the Copacabana Palace.
“Deb and I are never apart for more than two weeks,” the 41-year-old actor explains. “It was her idea, from being in the business and seeing enough relationships go under.
“You get used to living apart, which is fine when things are going well. But there’s struggle in every marriage and that’s when you need to be together, forced to work it out. Otherwise cracks develop. Absence doesn’t make the heart grow fonder. It makes it wander.”
It’s this attitude that has kept their romance burning for 15 years, since meeting on the set of Aussie TV series Correlli in 1995. And despite being together for so long, Hugh says he is now even more in love with Deborra-lee, who turns 55 this year, than when they first met.
Related stories
Native ad body.
Native ad body.
.png?resize=380%2C285)
Native ad body.
