Hugh Jackman says rumours about his sexuality hurt wife Deborra-Lee Furness Hugh Jackman has admitted that rumours about his sexuality are beginning to take a toll on his wife Deborra-Lee Furness. HUGH Jackman has admitted the gay rumours that have dogged his career have taken a toll on his family. "Just recently, it bugs her," Jackman admitted of his wife, Deborra-Lee Furness and the speculation about his sexuality. She goes: It's big! It's everywhere," the Aussie star confessed to The Hollywood Reporter in a candid cover story. The Oscar-nominated Les Misérables star spoke of the difficulty balancing career and family life, and of missing his wife and children while on the set of the hit musical, even suggesting he will take a step back soon to focus on his family. Jackman said life got "10 times better" when he met his future wife on set of prison show Correlli when he was 26. She was very beautiful. She was unbelievably fun - this energy, this spirit - irrepressible. And she had a confidence in herself. I had a massive crush on her. She was sort of the opposite of me," he said. "I was very "Even Steven," and she was thrilling to me." The Aussie star also opened up over his fear after his mum abandoned his family when he was just eight years old, his deep religiousness as a teen, and his surprising friendships with self-help guru Tony Robbins and News Corp Chairman and CEO Rupert Murdoch. Jackman's family emigrated to Australia from the UK, his mother returned England, unable to cope in her new homeland or family life. It was years before Jackman realised she was gone for good - and had indeed remarried and had another child in the UK. But Jackman and his mum have since reconciled, and he is surrounded by friends and family these days. Speaking of pal Robbins, the Les Mis star also credited the self-improvement mogul for helping him cope with anxiety in front of the camera by thinking of his fearful side as another person named "Charlie." And Jackman says he has become good friends with Mr Murdoch, whom he describes as "very carrying and thoughtful and incredibly respectful of everybody around him." They met through Nicole Kidman, who is close friends with Mr Murdoch's wife Wendi Deng-Murdoch. The Murdochs asked Jackman to be daughter Chloe's godfather in 2003. It was Nicole's birthday, and we all went to Soho House in New York, and we were in the pool. He was holding his daughter, and I was holding my son, and we became friends.