Hugh Jackman's wife has hit out at rumors surrounding her husband's sexuality.

For years, stories about the Wolverine star, 53, being gay have circulated in Hollywood. Jackman himself places the origin of the rumors as his 2003 role in The Boy from Oz, a Broadway show where he played openly gay singer-songwriter Peter Allen and kissed male co-star Jarrod Emick on stage.

While there has never been any reason to believe the speculation, rumors have been loud enough that the actor's wife Deborra-Lee Furness, 66, addressed them during an appearance on the Not an Overnight Success podcast.

In an episode which aired on Sunday (April 17) Furness shrugged off the stories as "silly."

"I mean, hello guys - if he was gay, he could be gay," she told host Gus Worland. She went on to joke about the speculation, saying: "He didn't have to hide in the closet anymore, and he'd be dating Brad Pitt, or whatever. Not that Brad's gay, but you know what I'm saying!"

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"It's so silly, and then people perpetuate silly things and it's boring," the 66-year-old mom-of-two added.

Elsewhere in the interview, Worland asked Furness - who is also an actor - what it was like filming intimate scenes in front of her husband.

"What's it like when you're doing a love scene in the movie, and Jacko's watching and vice-versa?" he said.

Furness responded: "It's so weird. I suppose because I've done it so many times before, it's not really romantic. You've got the light in your face, you've got to hit a mark and so it's not really sexy."

When it came to watching her husband, she added: "When I'm sitting in the theater watching - especially if I'm with the kids - I feel a little uncomfortable."

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"But also, a lot of the times I'm very good friends with the actress he's making out with as we're making a film, we all get to know each other," she continued, before concluding that "when you're in a relationship, that's just all fluff, you know? It's all fluff."

The couple met in 1995 on set of the Australian TV show Correlli, and tied the knot a year later. Since then, they've adopted two children (20-year-old Oscar and 15-year-old Ava) and celebrated their 26th wedding anniversary.

Featured Image Credit: Sipa US / Alamy

Hugh Jackman's wife Deborra-Lee Furness addresses rumors that her husband is gay