21 November 2023 , 19:30
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Dame Joan Collins describes her husband Percy Gibson as the 'best lover' she's ever had out of all five spouses.
The iconic British film star and actress remains one of the only surviving stars from the golden age of Hollywood cinema, and proudly owns the title of the highest-paid TV actress in the world. Tonight, Joan - who turned 90 this year - sits down with Louis Theroux in his new BBC documentary to discuss her 70-year career.
Speaking about her rollercoaster love life and happy marriage to her husband of 20 years, Joan tells Louis: "I believe in marriage - which is why I've done it five times - and I finally have a wonderful marriage. Percy is 30-odd years younger than me, but I don't even feel my age. I don't even talk about it, I don't even think about it."
Dame Joan Collins with her fifth husband Percy Gibson (Richard Young/REX/Shutterstock)
The couple have been together for 20 years (Getty Images)In a recent interview with the Mirror, Joan opened up about her two-decade-long marriage, after years of enduring ribbing about her 'toy boy' hubby. Percy, who is 32 years her junior, is her dream other half and proof that it's not always third - but sometimes fifth - time lucky. "Everyone says how lucky I am. And how good he's looking right now!" Joan said proudly, admitting herself: "It is fifth time lucky. I've been feeling that for years. He's a wonderful, kind, truly good man. He's my – what's the thing he always says? – my accomplice, yes, and my best friend. Plus he's extremely handsome – and he just gets better and better."
The pair first met in 2000 and bonded over dinners on the road, when Joan was 67 and touring the US, and Percy was her 36-year-old divorced producer. At the time, she was seeing actor Robin Hurlstone and it led to a very messy break-up. "Percy and I became really good friends first," she said. "So we had this connection. We really knew each other."
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In 2002, the lovebirds decided to tie the knot and married at London's Claridge's. In Percy's beautiful wedding speech, he said: "Joan is my accomplice, my comrade, my confessor, my confidant, my fearless leader and my most loyal supporter, my very best friend."
Her first husband was Maxwell Reed in 1952 (PA)
Pop singer Peter Holm was Joan's fourth husband (Mirrorpix)On the secret of their marriage, Joan revealed: "Every morning before he goes for a run he brings me a coffee in bed while I read all the papers. My mum used to read the Daily Mirror... And he leaves me little notes under the kettle." She added: "And separate bathrooms is key! Although we are very lucky. I know that's not something everyone can have... He has his office area and I have mine. I'll spend time in mine writing or phoning my friends. And he'll be working, looking after our three properties. Then we'll do something together. Like any couple, we have our ups and downs. We do occasionally argue - it's normally when we're working together."
While they are three decades apart, Percy's Peruvian heritage gives him a refreshing attitude to the age gap. "The age difference didn't matter to him," Joan said. "In Peru, if a woman is attractive, she's attractive. They don't think about it." She admitted the pair of them bicker from time to time but are happy in love together, whether it's working on her tour as a team or binge-watching an old box set of Dynasty to see herself as the formidable Alexis on telly. "Percy will be asking what happens next with Blake and Alexis and I have no idea! I can certainly see why it was as popular as it was," Joan said.
The Hollywood actress with her second husband Anthony Newley (Bettmann Archive)Before she met her fifth husband, Percy, now 58, Joan had numerous flings, including lovers Warren Beatty, Ryan O'Neal, Marlon Brando and Harry Belafonte, and four marriages that didn't work out. "They all got money out of me, actually," she told The Times earlier this year, speaking about her former husbands. However, she added that her third husband, businessman Ron Kass, didn't get anything because "there was no money left" by the time they divorced. The couple share a 51-year-old daughter, Katyana Kass.
Joan was first married to Irish actor Maxwell Reed, then actor and singer-songwriter Anthony Newley, who she shares two children with, Tara, 59, and Alexander, 57. Reflecting on their relationship, she told the publication: "He wasn't able to be a good father or a good husband and he was absolutely bonkers about women." The star has also slated her fourth husband, pop singer Peter Holm, describing him to The Guardian as "a mixture of an obdurate dullard and calculating sociopath".
- Louis Theroux Interviews airs on BBC Two and BBC iPlayer at 9pm tonight.