James Brolin was celibate for three years before marrying Barbra Streisand.

James Brolin and Barbra Streisand tied the knot in 1998

James Brolin and Barbra Streisand tied the knot in 1998

The 83-year-old actor has revealed that he abstained from sex for years before he tied the knot in 1998.

During an interview on 'CBS Mornings', James shared: "I had been ... literally it's a wild word ... but I had been celibate for three years, saying 'who needs this.'"

Barbra, 81, then replied: "You're not supposed to tell that!"

James subsequently admitted that he was particularly fearful of "getting involved in a lousy situation".

He shared: "I had not had any interest in getting involved in a lousy situation."

Despite this, James doesn't have any regrets about tying the knot.

He told Barbra: "Marrying you was just the best thing I've ever done."

Meanwhile, Barbra recently revealed that she resisted the temptation to write about her famous exes in her tell-all memoir.

The music icon didn't want to discuss her former flames in 'My Name Is Barbra' - but her editor told her to "leave some blood on the page".

Barbra insisted that she didn't set out to create any controversy or spark feuds with any of her exes.

The award-winning star told Gayle King: "One of the reasons I wrote the book is to talk about the myths about me."

Barbra's famous exes include actors Don Johnson and Ryan O'Neal, tennis star Andre Agassi and Pierre Trudeau, the former Canadian prime minister.

The iconic star - who is one of the best-selling recording artists of all time - continued: "Listen, I didn't want to write about any of them.

"[But] my editor said, ‘You have to leave some blood on the page!'"