John Corbett reveals he and longtime partner Bo Derek are now married

Actor-musician John Corbett says he and his nearly two-decade partner, animal activist and actor Bo Derek, were quietly married in late December.

"Jerry," said Corbett Tuesday on the CBS daytime panel-discussion show "The Talk," addressing his friend and co-host Jerry O'Connell, "I can't believe that I forgot to tell you that around Christmastime we got married. Bo and I got married!"

Added the star, who is 59 or 60 according to conflicting sources, "We're pretty private people — we didn't make an announcement, [although] all our friends and family knew — but this is the first time either one of us has said anything publicly about it because, really, we haven't had an opportunity. So, you're my buddy and now I guess I'm telling all of America, or the world," he said.

Derek, 64, who was married to actor-filmmaker John Derek from the mid-1970s until his death in 1998, has not commented publicly. Corbett, a star of series including "Rebel," "Sex and the City" and "Northern Exposure," has no evident social media.

He and Derek had met in 2002, he had told the NBC morning show "Today" in 2015. His friend, talent agent Norby Walters, was throwing an Oscars party, and "I said, 'I'm not dating anyone,' and he said, 'I'll get you a date, Corbett!' And he set me up with Bo. … I was very intimidated!"

Derek in that same "Today" appearance had said she "hadn't dated in five years" and was attracted to Corbett "instantly … I kept saying to my friends, 'I'll wait until all the sparks and all that get going.' And it finally happened."