Bryan Brown reveals secret to his 40-year marriage to Rachel Ward

The couple met on the set of ‘The Thorn Birds’ in 1983

Bryan Brown and Rachel Ward married in 1983 (Getty Images)

Actors Rachel Ward and Bryan Brown have revealed the secret behind their long-lasting marriage.

The couple met in 1983 when they were cast as husband and wife in miniseries The Thorn Birds.

The pair fell in love on set and wed that same year just months after filming ended. They are due to celebrate 40 years of marriage in 2023.

“The main thing is to say Yes to your wife all the time and if anything goes wrong say ‘It’s my fault’. If men understood that they’d be happier,” Brown said in a new interview with The Mirror.

He recalled his initial attraction to Ward on set, and how he had playfully read her palms one day and accurately predicted she would have three children.

Brown and Ward have two daughters, Rosie, 38, Matilda, 35, and one son, Joe, 30.

“Yes, I did say that, but I didn’t say they would be mine!” Brown joked.

“It’s amazing to think Rachel and I have been married almost 40 years. You cannot underestimate how huge the show was all over the world.

“But whatever work opportunities came from that, I will always be more grateful to it for my 40-year marriage and family.”

The couple met on the set of The Thorn Birds (Getty Images)

Brown also revealed that the couple made the decision to get married following a “massive argument”.

“I was in London to film Give My Regards to Broad Street with Paul McCartney. Rachel came with me,” he explained.

“We took a week off to go to Ireland and had this massive argument. I just thought if we’re gonna argue like that, we may as well get married.”

They married at Ward’s childhood home, a Georgian mansion in Oxfordshire, before settling in Australia.