Kelsey Grammer says thinking of love as a ‘contact sport’ is the key to his 14-year marriage

Kelsey Grammer has been married to his wife, Kayte Walsh, for 14 years, and says the secret to their long marriage lies in putting in constant effort.

“I always say, ‘Love is a contact sport,'” Grammer, 70, told People. “Once in a while you got to back it up with some action.”

The “Frasier” actor added that it was important to keep the initial flame alive.

“I just always try to say to myself, ‘Remember the blushing that you had when you first met. Remember that energy, that circulation that dialed you up just a little bit,'” he said.

Walsh, 46, is Grammer’s fourth wife. The couple first met in 2009, when she was working as a flight attendant. They married in 2011 and share three kids. Grammer also has four children from his previous relationships.

The actor spoke about how supportive his wife was while he was writing a book about his sister, Karen, who was raped and murdered in 1975.

“When I finished the book, I turned her around and I said, ‘I’m finished.’ She said, ‘Well, I’ve missed you,'” Grammer said, recalling Walsh’s words. “I had to go away for a while — there were hours on end that I would just be staring off. But she was patient and loving through it. I had definitely lost a lot of the joy, and this brought it back for me.”

Grammer isn’t the only celebrity who has spoken about how they build and maintain healthy relationships with their spouses.

Robert Downey Jr. and his wife, Susan, say they don’t go more than two weeks without being together as a family.

Rob Lowe, who has been married to Sheryl Berkoff for over 30 years, said he goes to couples therapy with her regularly because “it’s like taking your car in and making sure the engine’s running great.”

Jamie Lee Curtis credits her 40-year marriage to the filmmaker Christopher Guest to “perseverance, patience, gentleness, and a really good dose of hatred.”

A representative for Grammer did not immediately respond to a request for comment sent by Business Insider outside regular hours.

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