Michael Douglas: 'Zeta-Jones was outed'

Michael Douglas has said that wife Catherine Zeta-Jones had no choice but talk about her mental health condition, because she was "outed".

Earlier this month, it was reported that Zeta-Jones had sought treatment for bipolar II disorder at a medical facility, which was confirmed by her representative.

The 41-year-old then spoke out about her struggle with the illness, saying that she hoped other sufferers would seek help after hearing about her own mental health difficulties.

Speaking on The Oprah Winfrey Show, Douglas said that his wife had been put in a situation where she felt compelled to speak about her treatment.

"I must say, Catherine's being quite open about it because she was outed, you know," the 66-year-old actor explained. "She went to go get some help and some other patient probably in there said, 'Hey, you won't believe who's in here now.' And, so, once that happens, I think she felt [it] best to kind of get out the story."

Last year, Douglas was diagnosed with stage four throat cancer and underwent aggressive treatment for the tumour.

In January, the Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps star revealed that he had beaten the disease.