Michael Douglas regrets oral sex cancer remarks

LOS ANGELES, June 29 (UPI) -- Michael Douglas regrets his oral sex cancer remarks.

The 70-year-old actor said as much to the Daily Mail in an article for Event magazine. Douglas famously declared "cunnilingus" can both "cause" and "cure" cancer in an interview with The Guardian in 2013.

"I was trying to make a public service comment," he explained to the Daily Mail. "It was one of those things... and I so regretted any embarrassment that it caused [my wife ] Catherine [Zeta-Jones] and her family."

Douglas was in remission from stage four tongue cancer when he linked HPV with cancer in the interview. The virus can be contracted from oral sex and cause cancer, but the actor later clarified he was speaking in general terms and not of his own illness.

Douglas recently confirmed he and Zeta-Jones have reconciled following their months-long separation. The couple married in November 2000, and walked the red carpet with 14-year-old son Dylan and 12-year-old daughter Carys this month.

"We had a little bump in the road," he confessed. "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're about to have our 15th wedding anniversary and it feels great."

Douglas will next appear in Marvel film Ant-Man with Paul Rudd, and is also scheduled for Unlocked with Orlando Bloom. Zeta-Jones will star in The Godmother with Jon Bernthal and a film remake of BBC sitcom Dad's Army.