Marlo Thomas was quite content to live as a single woman and against marriage when she met and fell in love with Phil Donahue. The couple has been together for almost five decades and has faced difficult trials that enhanced their relationship.

In Marlo Thomas and Phil Donahue’s book, “What Makes a Marriage Last: 40 Celebrated Couples Share with Us the Secrets,” the couple opened up about their marriage. Thomas revealed in the memoir that as a young girl, she wanted nothing to do with the institution of marriage.

The reason was that she didn’t see marriage as having enough room to accommodate her. She was so against it that she always had a cheeky response when the discussion came up.

Thomas would say things like marriage was the same as living with your jailer and having to please them. The other retort she made against the institution was equally harsh, with her stating:

“Marriage is like a vacuum cleaner: you stick it to your ear, and it sucks out all your energy and ambition.”

YIELDING TO MARRIAGE AND FACING OBSTACLES

According to their book, Donahue met Thomas once before, and the second time they met was in 1977 in Chicago. When the meeting happened, the television show host was single and raising four boys alone.

In 2012 on her YouTube channel, the star confessed that no one dreamt of being a stepmother because they were always depicted in a bad light in children’s stories. The actress said she was reluctant when she had to take on the role.

When his [Phil Donahue] wife [Marlo Thomas] looked back on her life, she confessed that there was no one she would’ve settled to marry except the television personality.

So instead, she chose to be a good one and took the time to get to know her stepsons. In their book, Donahue shared how his wife had conversations with the boys and got to know them individually and not as just a group.

MARLO AND PHIL’S SECRET TO THEIR LONG-LASTING MARRIAGE

In 2020, Donahue and his wife celebrated 40 years of marriage! During an interview with Closer Weekly, Donahue noted that long-lasting relationships hardly got the attention they deserved because people focused on divorced couples.

He and his wife discovered that lasting marriages were “strengthened by trust.” Thomas explained that it wasn’t just about trusting that you wouldn’t betray the other, but that what mattered to one partner mattered to the other, adding:

“You build trust when you realize that this person always has your back.”

Another tip Donahue gave for maintaining a lasting marriage was to want it. When Thomas looked back on her life, she confessed that there was no one she would’ve settled to marry except the television personality.

The actress noted how her husband supported her “in every way possible.” In 2022, the couple’s marriage was still strong, and since they had found the secrets to long-lasting relationships, it seemed their union would be forever.