HIS amazing physique won him the nickname “The Muscles from Brussels” and he has appeared in scores of martial arts movies.
But Jean-Claude Van Damme says one of his biggest achievements has been seducing women — without any effort at all.
He has dated a string of celebrities from Kylie Minogue and Princess Stephanie of Monaco to actress Tatum O’Neal and Beverly Hills 90210 star Tori Spelling.
In a big-headed boast, the 63-year-old who has appeared in more than 60 movies including action thrillers Bloodsport and Kickboxer, says getting dates with them was easy because he was so good looking — even if he didn’t know how to charm them with words.
The star is more like Jean-Claude VAIN Damme as he says: “When I look back at how I looked then, I think, ‘Wow, I was kind of handsome’.
“No wonder I didn’t have to talk to girls.
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“I didn’t know how to talk to girls, but it didn’t matter because I was so handsome.
“I’d be stuttering, going, ‘Er . . . er . . . do you want to eat with me tonight?’ and they’d be like, ‘Sure’. It was that easy.
“I think I’m still popular, but I’m a sleeping Van Damme now.”
Jean-Claude grew up in Brussels with his mum, accountant Eliana, and dad, florist Eugene.
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He found his passion aged ten, when his father enrolled him in karate school.
‘I’m an expert in divorce’
After years of fighting his way in the martial arts industry in Belgium, he moved to the US in 1982 to pursue acting.
From then he worked in various jobs until he landed his big break in the 1988 film Bloodsport.
And fame and fortune was not all that followed.
The action man reveals how he has battled bipolar disorder and drug addiction but says he has had an amazing life thanks to his love of fitness, dogs and women.
He has been married five times, to four different women, but along the way he also confesses to numerous affairs.
Jean-Claude first married personal trainer Maria Rodriguez in 1980 then wed Cynthia Derderian in 1985, which lasted just a few months.
In 1987, bodybuilder Gladys Portugues became his third wife and they had children Kristopher, now 36, and Bianca, 33, who are both actors.
He and Gladys divorced in 1992 and then he found his fourth wife, actress Darcy LaPier, who he married in 1994 and had son Nicholas with.
The 28-year-old is also an actor.
Yet while Darcy was pregnant, he admits he had a fling with co-star Kylie Minogue during the filming of the 1994 movie Street Fighter in Thailand.
He says: “It happened. I was in Thailand, we had an affair. Sweet kiss, beautiful love-making.”
He and Darcy divorced and Gladys, now 66, remarried him in 1999.
They nearly split up again in 2015 but patched up their relationship and are still married today, living in Los Angeles.
Laughing, he says: “I am an expert in divorce, because I’ve been divorced four times.
“You believe in love and you want to lock that down for life. And then you realise that it’s not working.
“It doesn’t matter whose fault it is.
“The only medication through a divorce is to try not to yell, stay distant and give yourself time.
“We have a tendency to think that there’s only one person we can love.
“But humans have a big energy, which means you can have lots of people you love out there.”
When he was offered a cameo role on the sitcom Friends in 1996, the lothario was given a part where he would not get to seduce his co-stars.
His guest appearance during the Super Bowl-themed episode The One After The Super Bowl was with Jennifer Aniston’s character, Rachel, and Courteney Cox’s Monica.
They both end up kissing the action hero and then clashing over his attention, until he suggests a threesome and they dump him.
Speaking from Belgium while visiting family, Jean-Claude tells us: “I didn’t know much about Friends as I was so busy.
“I had no idea what a huge show it was.
“I had no idea who Jennifer Aniston or Courteney Cox were.
“So I was on the set with Courteney and Jennifer and they came to me and it’s a kissing scene and they kissed me, but I didn’t ask for a kiss.
“And then the director said, ‘A little more extravagant please’. It was funny.
“Only later on I found out who Jennifer and Courteney were — after I’d finished filming.
“I saw them in the magazines and I said to my friend, ‘If I’d known who they were before we started filming I would have kissed them for such a long, long time and I would have done an even better kiss’.
“But I didn’t know, and since then I’ve never kissed either of them.”
While on set he also discovered that years of training and strict diet habits, where he eats eight times a day, meant his bottom cheeks were so strong he could crack a nut with them.
Describing the bizarre party trick, he says: “I was on Friends when I did it and it was a very cool joke.
“Everyone thought it would be impossible to crack a nut that way, but when you have a strong butt, anything is possible.
“I used to do ballet dancing, so that helped me a lot with my strength in different types of positions.”
He said he came up with the idea after being unable to find a nutcracker at his home.
‘As good an actor as Pacino or De Niro’
“It was a big struggle, but the ballet helped,” he said with a laugh.
Despite an exciting life, he has faced struggles.
He had a drug addiction, which at one point led to him spending a staggering £10,000 a week on cocaine.
The actor also had a lifelong battle with bipolar disorder, which saw him have lows where he would stay at home eating only “carrots and raw cauliflower” and highs where he would party all night.
Jean-Claude says of his condition: “I have had my ups and downs. I will never be 100 per cent OK.
“I will have those lows and you have to click off.
“It’s very hard to go to the gym when you have a low, so when that happens I train with very light weights.
“That way I still have some movement.
“I always feel better after I go to the gym. It’s a non-stop battle. It’s a chemical thing.”
His focus on exercise throughout his life means he can “absolutely” still do a 360-degree karate kick and the splits.
He says: “It’s cool, because it encourages other people to do stretching and to go to the gym.
“I trained since I was very young.
“You release serotonin, this natural happiness, and the more you do it, the more you want it.”
Neither his workout routine nor career have slowed down.
In the past year he has starred in the movie Darkness Of Man and family film Minions: The Rise Of Gru.
Now he is following in the footsteps of his pop singer ex Kylie by having his own alcohol line.
Jean-Claude co-owns Old Oak Irish Whiskey and despite his buff body, says he loves to drink it.
He adds: “I have my little whiskey at night, one, two, three times a week. It makes me tipsy.”
It is all about the little things in life for the Hollywood star, who loves nothing more than curling up with his dogs these days.
He says: “I now relax with my animals, I’ve got a weakness for animals. I’m crazy about them.
“I have Lola, I’ve got Mark, I’ve got Indy, I’ve got Nicky, I’ve got Dachca, Macha and Scarface.
“Altogether at one time I had 11 dogs, including one in a wheelchair, one with three legs, from different countries like Bulgaria. All adopted.
“They’re the best.”
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But he has no plans to put his feet up full-time because he knows exactly what his fans want from him.
He admits: “I am as good an actor as Al Pacino or Robert De Niro but people will always want to see me kick ass.”
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Stephanie Chase
