Joan Collins and Percy Gibson have been married for more than 21 years. But you'd never stop to guess what the 90-year-old author believes has helped her marriage succeed: Separate bathrooms.
Yep, you heard right. The Land of the Pharaohs actress opened up in the November 6, 2023, issue of People magazine about how balance plays a huge role in maintaining a relationship. Joan and Percy (who is her fifth husband) share the same bedroom but have bathrooms of their own. The couple, who wed in 2002, met while working together on a play.
“First of all, Percy and I were working together and we became great friends,” she said. “We found we had a lot in common. We like the same things. We like doing the same things.”
She went on to share that they both enjoy theater, "particularly musical theater," as well as reading, playing cards, and playing Scrabble. "Neither of us are particularly [outdoorsy] people," Joan added. "You know, he doesn’t go running out to football games. And we love going to the theater and films and we just got along.”
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Because of all their mutual interests, the actress believes that she and Percy are in the same blood group. In her 2011 memoir, The World According to Joan, she clarified why her marriage with Percy has differed from her four previous marriages.
"I kissed a lot of frogs before I found my prince," she wrote. "For those women who are looking for a life partner, that old saying that men are like buses and 'if you wait long enough the right one will come along' is true for a reason."
In a 2015 interview with Hello! she went on to explain how happy they are. "It is my fifth marriage, and my happiest, and last," she said. "Percy is wonderful, he's my soul mate. That doesn't mean we don't bicker, but we are very understanding of each other."
Percy is 32 years younger than Joan. Yet she doesn't let that affect her. “And, you know, age is — as far as we’re concerned — just a number, and that’s the way that we both feel. Obviously, we talked about it before we got married, but it isn’t in the slightest importance.”
All in all, their shared hobbies and separate bathrooms have really managed to keep their marriage going strong. "In fact, I think it's important to have separate bathrooms, she said in a previous interview. "He never interferes with my social calendar. I never interfere with his financial work. I occasionally give him advice on how he looks, but he's the least vain man I've ever known."
"Day-to-day life with him is very normal. Despite what people may think, no, I don't wear the trousers in our house. I don't make him do the hoovering or the washing-up," the actress explained of their relationship. "He's a man's man and he likes to take charge. He likes to be in control. I suppose you could say we share the trousers; one leg each."
