Goldie Hawn and Kurt Russell have been together for 42 years. They’ve defied the odds for a Hollywood couple, and have famously stayed unmarried. They know who they are and what works for them. They’re also generally pretty open about what makes them work so well together, too. Speaking of, during a guest appearance on The Dan Buettner Podcast this week, Goldie talked about the key to their long-lasting relationship: “freedom of self,” respect for one another, and sexual attraction.
Goldie Hawn and partner Kurt Russell continue to remain a strong duo because of the freedom they give each other.
In PEOPLE’s exclusive clip from The Dan Buettner Podcast, produced by Andrew Zimmern’s Intuitive Content and distributed by Lemonada Media, the Oscar-winning actress, 80, explains the key to making a relationship that began in 1983 work: “freedom.”
“I have a relationship with birds,” says Hawn. “I’m a bird. And you leave the cage door open, I may never fly out. But if you close that door, for my freedom and my independence, I would probably take all my feathers off.”
It’s “a freedom of self,” she says, that makes her relationship with Russell, 74, so successful. “It’s a freedom of basically not melding into somebody else, when you’re copacetic on certain areas and you have freedom.”
Hawn and Russell, who are parents to Kate and Oliver Hudson and Boston and Wyatt Russell, have each in the past spoken out about their decision to not marry.
“We constantly got asked, ‘When are you going to get married? Why aren’t you married?’ ” Russell told Variety in 2023. “And we were like, ‘Why does anybody care about that?’ We’d asked our kids if they cared about it. They didn’t. We didn’t.”
In her conversation with Buettner, Hawn similarly dismisses the notion of tying the knot with Russell. “Even if we did get married, it wouldn’t make any difference because it’s 42 years now,” says the Death Becomes Her star.
Asked why she keeps choosing Russell throughout those 42 years, Hawn says, “Because I have respect for him because I think he’s an amazing person.”
She adds that she’s “also very sexually attracted to him. And that’s important. If you have a long-term sexual relationship, that’s actually really healthy. He’s my sexual object.”
Russell, she says, is “so smart” and “such a great actor, and I find him incredibly handsome to this day. Kids love him. We’re an unbelievably happy family — most of the time. … There’s a cohesiveness. Why would I want anybody who is perfect? There is no such thing.”
Goldie and Kurt clearly “get” each other and listen to one another’s needs. They both give off free-spirit vibes, Goldie especially, which is why her description of being like a bird who needs the cage door left open, even if she’ll never fly out, makes perfect sense to me. Everyone is different, but it’s obviously worked for them. As much as my husband and I love spending time together, we also have our own separate interests and give each other space to enjoy those hobbies. There’s something about mutual respect and acceptance that’s both safe and sexy. And while the “sexual object” comment could be considered TMI, I will just say that I am happy for them. Get it while you can.
Photos credit: Marion Curtis/StarPix for Focus Features/INSTARimages, Janet Mayer/INSTARimages.com, LFI/Avalon, Credit: Avalon
It’s a very OEPN secret that Hawn & Russell have an OPEN relationship.😉
Russell’s antics in massage parlours in the 8s and 90s were legendary.😏😏😏
But hey, it works for them!
Saw a video of them a few weeks ago, going in to a boutique in Aspen, I was embarrassed for Goldie, Kurt walk ahead of her and went into the shop, didn’t even offer his hand to help her.