But it missed the mark.

Michael Douglas has apologised for embarrassing his wife, Catherine Zeta-Jones for saying that performing oral sex on women might cure his tongue cancer.

"It's a sexually transmitted disease that causes cancer," the 71-year-old said in 2013. And if you have it, cunnilingus is also the best cure for it."

Now however, he acknowledges that his comments caused his wife and family distress.

"I so regretted any embarrassment that it caused Catherine," he tells Event magazine, "and her family".

"What I was trying to say was that there is a sexually transmitted virus called HPC," he continues. "But there is a vaccination that they recommend to all kids before they become sexually active so they don't catch HPC, which is a cause of certain types of cancer - cervical cancer, tongue and throat."

Douglas denies he meant to say that oral sex could cure some types of cancer.

"No," he says, "I was trying to make a public service announcement."

The actor was diagnosed with cancer in 2010 and underwent chemotherapy and radiation treatments.

"I was Stage 4 and I'd seen a lot of other people that I know go," he says. "It was pretty bad ... but it got better. Then it even got good."

The stress of his illness took its toll on Douglas' marriage to Zeta Jones and the couple split briefly in 2013.

"I'll be quite frank," said Zeta-Jones last year, of her husband's illness. "I was a mess."

Today, Douglas says the couple, who are about to celebrate their 15th wedding anniversary, are happier than ever.

"We had a little bump in the road," he says of their split. "The problem in this business is that everything is so public.

"I love Catherine as much, more than I ever have. And hopefully the feeling's mutual.

"We worked things out - if both people want to work something out and make it better, you can do it. You can't do it if it's just one person."

His recovery from cancer has also renewed his perspective on life.

"I was just happy to be alive," he says. "I was ecstatic. It feels like a rebirth after you go through cancer and you come out of it. You feel like you're a child.

"You see priorities differently. You have a much deeper appreciation of marriage, of your children - you see everything a little bit clearer, and a little brighter."

Fairfax Media