Eric Roberts isn’t shy about showing his love for wife Eliza Roberts! The Dancing With the Stars competitor told Closer exclusively that the secret to his marriage is rather simple: “Honesty and sex.”

Eric, 68, chatted with us after performing in episode 2 of season 33 of DWTS on Tuesday, September 25. He ended up escaping elimination and moving on to the next round of the competition with his partner, Britt Stewart.

When the Academy Award nominee was asked about whether or not he planned to use the moves he learned in the ballroom on his wife, he said, “Probably because she’ll make me.”

The secret to Eric’s lasting marriage has remained the same over the years. When previously speaking to Closer in May 2019, Eric had a very similar answer about what was keeping his marriage going.

“Honesty is so important,” he said. “And sex! If you have those, you have a relationship — and a good one.”

But Eric recently admitted to The New York Post that Eliza is never fond of his answer to this particular question.

“My wife hates this answer, but I’m going to give it,” he confessed. “She is going to be mad at me.”

The Runaway Train actor said that he longs for his wife when he is away from her.

“I was on a trip for only three days and I thought, ‘God, I hate being away from her!'” Eric shared in a previous interview with Closer. “I can’t stand it, because I got old with her, this is my roommate, my pal, my confidante, my manager, the girl I kiss.”

Eric Roberts reveals secret to marriage
Steve Granitz/FilmMagic

To Eric, “family means everything,” and finally being on the show after years of being asked to do it has been a dream come true.

“So when I was offered it way back in the first season, we were so happy,” he said of the opportunity to appear on the reality competition series. “But then I couldn’t do it because of scheduling. There’s no way I could ever say no. No way.”

Eric has been married to Eliza since 1992, and they’ve remained one of Hollywood’s strongest couples ever since.

“My wife is my hero,” he said on his “Love, Drugs, and Hollywood” podcast in 2020. “She’s smarter than me and she’s as talented as me and then some. She’s also better looking than me … And she taught me how to be a grown-up to some degree.”

In addition to his marriage and his support system as he competes on the show, Eric also opened up about being a grandfather. His daughter, Emma Roberts, welcomed son Rhodes Robert Hedlund with ex Garrett Hedlund in December 2020. Eric shares Emma, 33, with ex Kelly Cunningham.

“It’s a lot of fun and it’s easy,” he gushed of being a grandpa. “And you have one common enemy with a child — the parent.”

When asked if he was the fun grandpa, Eric said, “It sounds like I am. They can eat anything at my house. Except sugar. We don’t do sugar.”