it just -- got gives you respites. you know, just little breathers. you know, he's my baby. >> donnie gives great advice to justin bieber about life after being a teen idol superstar. >> if i was justin bieber what would you say? >> put on the seat belt. it's going to be a bumpy ride. >> and the two explain how they look so good after 40 years in the business. you admit to one dose of botox. >> this is a prime time exclusive of piers morgan tonight. >> marie. >> it's donnie and marie. welcome to the flamingo. >> i love it. >> do you know when you call the hotel that's what they say? >> really? >> it's so cool. >> you have been in show business all your lives. to have your own classic old style theater in vegas, your name in lights on the strip, i walk down and there you are. huge bill boards. it must give you a boost. >> it's an ego builder. if you feel bad, drive past the flamingo and it's the biggest billboard in the city. >> did you ever imam nn the '70s when you started the show together that here you would be, 40 years later doing this in vegas? >> no. you think about a career and especially being a woman in the entertainment business, you're lucky to get seven, eight years. we were going on how many? >> 48 years. and how grateful can i be. i know we are both grateful. we knew we'd do something together again. >> if i spent 14 hours in my sister, bottles would be thrown in my direction. >> believe me, bottles are thrown backstage. >> i have heard that about you. >> it would be at me. >> we do rub each other wrong every once in a while but that works for donny and marie on stage. everybody can relate who has a sibling, but there is something about the relationship that works on stage. >> it is almost unique, i would say, in show business, your relationship. a brother and sister doing what you have been doing for so long who still like each other. >> well, don't push it. >> there is a different relationship as we have matured. you know, definitely it's not 14 and 16 years old anymore. but there is a mutual respect. it's nice to be out there with somebody who they can tell if something's not working and they are there to cover each other. >> it just happened the other night. marie was feeling under the weather. i filled in for her. a couple weeks prior, just the reverse happened. i was feeling bad. she filled in and did more in the show. pulled it off. >> if it's your sister, you can completely trust each other. >> yes. i can emphatically say yes. >> in a way more than anybody else you work with. >> that's the thing about us. people say, what keeps you going? why are you still in the business after this many years? our father taught us a work ethic that if there is something worth doing it's worth doing well. when we started this thing we got so much ridicule and comments about oh, you are spending too much money, too many lights, the set, the orchestra, the dancers, the multi media. you're only going to be here six weeks. marie and i stuck to our guns. >> we did our own things for years. this is the first time we have worked together. >> for a long time. >> in a long, long time. >> it's almost like, i will use the analogy of getting a value meal. they get more than they paid for. we hear it every night. >> do you think you are not the last but the old school ethic of doing these kind of shows. when you see young performers today it seems to me they don't have that same ethic. >> you know, i feel very blessed that i got to grow up working with sammy davis, jr., dean martin, elvis presley. >> sinatra performing in the this theater. >> absolutely. >> to learn, watch, work with them. >> what did you learn from the greats? what made them great? what's the thing that takes you to that level? >> i don't know if i speak on behalf of marie, but when we put the show together, you can throw as much money as you want to the show. people don't go out saying those are the best costumes in the world. >> but it's important to have those things. >> you have to walk out with people saying, i learned more about donny and marie. producers today leave out the heart and soul. that's what i learned from sammy davis, jr., frank sinatra. when you saw the shows you got to know them. what are you laughing at? >> that's true. i like it. >> we did qvc the other day. >> don't go into that. >> no, no. not even that. >> he left his fly down. >> he did. >> trying to sell records. >> i'll do anything to sell a record. >> just to continue what you were saysaying? >> what? >> learning from old school. we walk out, he grabs something somebody's selling and he models it. a producer cuts to a still shot of the product and i thought, boy, that is so not what i learned in television. we did to catch the live moments and see him modeling a dress. that's television. >> who would you liked to have -- today it's like, oh, it's not on the script. >> thank you for telling the world that i emodeled a dress. >> it's not on the script so they panic. >> who of all the greats in vegas would you have liked to see? >> we did. >> we did. >> you saw them all? >> we worked with them. >> i remember going to the hilton. >> amazing. >> you name a name and we'll tell you. >> sinatra. >> yes. >> sammy davis. >> yes. >> dean martin. >> elvis. >> lucille ball, john wayne. it's crazy. it's nuts. ethel merman. >> i went to see elvis's last show -- closing show nd i watched the king on stage. he could do no wrong. the next night i'm in his dressing room with my brothers getting ready and the door opens up. hi, everybody. i'm elvis presley. >> that's good. >> i want to say hi and good luck. >> that's my brother. >> i thought, how cool is that? the king of rock and roll walked in and he's a cool person. when you go off stage you're another person. it put it all in perspective. >> what else made those guys? >> they worked. >> i think they didn't look at it as being a celebrity. they looked at it as being an entertainer. every day, how do i get better? they love that audience. we love our audiences. we want them to leave feeling that, you know, it's an expensive ticket. not as expensive as some of them here, but they got their money's worth. they had an experience, something that brought them back to a memory whether it was way back at the donny and marie original shows or something they saw like "dancing with the stars" or whatever. they walk away feeling that they got to know us better. >> another thing, piers, sometimes i feel entertainers, young entertainers that jump into the business get -- >> we're young. >> oh, yeah. >> you both look young. i will get to that in a moment. how have you done this? >> so many people feel entitles. i'm on stage, you need to like me. there is an attitude, confidence on stage. they forget about getting out there and working and doing all those little gigs 366 days a year and going through the work, the motions. >> so looking at an audience making them feel as important as they are making you feel. >> absolutely. >> what they said that's crucial is i remember the first time i worked with milton burl. he came on, took a script, started slashing. no, this won't work. he worked to make that silly little three-minute sketch brilliant. it wasn't just, oh, that's okay. he worked with the writers. it was a constant effort by the people we got to work with to make it the best it could be even if it was a stupid sketch which it usually was on our show. >> do you remember what groucho marx did to you? >> dirty old man. >> pinching her butt the whole time. >> really? >> wasn't it groucho that said, you're only as old as the woman you feel. >> i love that. >> that's groucho. >> perfect. >> i would have been 14 1/2, no, 15. >> this was completely inappropriate. >> which would have been illegal. >> good old groucho. they don't make them like that anymore. what was john wayne like? >> stoic. >> tall. >> sweet. >> he talked like this. i'm going a lot of impressions tonight. >> you're good. >> don't encourage him. >> you could come on "america's got talent". >> maybe i'll get a gig. >> when we come back we're going to get into the nitty-gritty. you got married! >> thank you. >> not you. >> i got married 33 years ago. >> you just gotmarmried to your ex-husband. >> my first husband. >> unbelievable. we'll be right back. ♪ [ male announcer ] in 2011, at&t is at work, building up our wireless network all across america. we're adding new cell sites... increasing network capacity, and investing billions of dollars to improve your wireless network experience. from a single phone call to the most advanced data download, we're covering more people in more places than ever before in an effort to give you the best network possible. at&t. rethink possible. and today, we're re-inventing aspirin for pain relief. with new extra-strength bayer advanced aspirin. it has microparticles so it enters the bloodstream faster and rushes relief right to the site of your tough pain. ♪ in fact, it's clinically proven to relieve pain twice as fast. new bayer advanced aspirin. extra strength pain relief, twice as fast. if you're hesitant to join aarp because you think it makes you old, i have a message for you: get over it! call in. i'm standing by. ♪ get over it so, donny and marie, we're talking about vegas and it's all exciting. the most exciting thing to happen in vegas is you got married. >> that's the most exciting thing? >> you got married to a guy you married before. >> it was the most exciting thing for me that i have done in my life. >> how did this happen? >> well -- >> you got married how long ago? >> 29 years. >> so 29 years ago you marry this guy and the marriage only lasts three years. >> mm-hmm. >> and you get divorced. why did you split up then? what was wrong then? >> you know, piers, i think too young. the world was watching us under a microscope. you know, you move on. your heart's broken. we have a child together. looking back, it is what it is. the thing that i find fascinating about now is he's so sweet and he still is the core of who i fell in love with. >> you remarried but he never did. >> remarried. >> because he never remarried did you, in the back of your mind, ever think, i wonder if one day. >> i really did not. no. there was no we would ever get back -- i mean, do you really think that way? no. but really it was our son who -- i was moving here and he said, dad, mom needs some help moving. we have always kind of known each other and been amicable and friendly, but it wasn't until about two years ago that we thought, well, let's give this a shot. >> that was after you split up -- >> oh, yeah. i have been divorced almost six years now or something like that. >> you were a single woman, he was a single guy. circumstance in vegas. what goes on in vegas -- >> stays in vegas. >> in your case, stays in vegas. >> we didn't want anybody to know we were dating. if it doesn't work out, that hurts children. i was really set on being single. >> did your son know that you were dating? >> no spvm. >> how long did you keep it from him? when we told him we were getting married. >> seriously? >> yeah. >> i thought the most beautiful part of the wedding was the fact that their son steven was one of the witnesses to that marriage. to me, that was the culminating -- it gave me chills when i saw that. >> amazing story. >> but it's a cinderella story with a lot of bumps in the road with a beautiful ending. >> it is. completely that. wonderful for you after all you have been through. what i find extraordinary is that you're dating your son's dad and he doesn't know. what did he say when you told him? >> can you imagine if it didn't work out? that would be a double hurt. >> your son is nearly 30 now. >> he's 28. don't make me older than i am. >> what was your reaction? >> i thought it was fantastic. >> he was the first person i told. >> i always had a familial relationship with steve. i have always loved the guy. he was a great brother-in-law. it hurt me for my sister but it hurt me to see them pull apart like they did. >> for any brother when you see your sister with her heart broken as you said you did the first time when the marriage fell apart, doesn't part of you feel that protective thing of i hope this doesn't happen again with this guy. >> let's go a step further. it's always been uncomfortable at least for me between us that i have a successful marriage of 33 years and she didn't because we have always shared our careers and everything together. so it's always been a very difficult part for me. when i saw that -- and i'm getting emotional about this. when i saw them come back together again it was a great moment. >> it is emotional. it's a remarkable story. >> yeah. >> the best was when we were kneeling across the altar and we were married in vegas, not by elvis. it was in the mormon temple. >> at the drive-thru chapel. >> they ask the man first and he said yes. our eyes were very teary-eyeded. it was beautiful. but i saw our son sitting there smiling. then it was my turn to say it next and all of the sudden this look on his little face like, mom, you better say yes. i said yes and his little face just beamed. it was beautiful. >> what was the moment when you thought, i want to be back with this guy? was there a moment? >> you know, the only thing i can say is when it's right it's really right. and there is not one piece of doubt in me that we weren't always right. it's just we're smarter now. >> do you think the reason that steven never remarried is he quietly hoped -- you're nodding. do you think that? >> i just think i'm a hard habit to break. >> another song coming on. even more incredibly, you wore the same dress that you wore when you first married him. >> yeah. i designed this beautiful dress. my daughter rachel helped me design it. she designs my clothes in the show. but it showed up five days before the wedding in pieces. it was crazy. four, five days before i got my dress i found, out in my garage, a box with my original wedding dress. i didn't know i had it still. i took it down and i was having it dry cleaned and put away again because it had been opened. well, immediately i started crying because this dress was a mess, the one i designed and the lady helping me said, where is that dress? i said it's at the dry cleaners. i said, have you started cleaning it yet? no. i need it back! i put it on and it fit. >> you're the same size exactly as you were 26, 27 years ago. >> i had to let it out a tiny bit across my upper back and, you know, just like that much. >> there are women -- >> it fit everywhere, even the little waist cinch belt. i was so happy. >> what did you think when you saw her in the dress again? >> it was beautiful. i have a picture in my dressing room -- >> did you get it? i left a picture for him. >> there's my sister in her original wedding dress. >> back with the guy she loves so much. >> a picture of my wife and myself, steve and marie. it's just one of my favorite pictures right now. >> you're cute. >> when we come back, i want to talk more about the wedding and special significance to the day you got married. ♪ [ slap! slap! slap! slap! slap! ] [ male announcer ] your favorite foods fighting you? fight back fast with tums. calcium rich tums goes to work in seconds. nothing works faster. ♪ tum tum tum tum tums marie, i want to talk to you about the day -- >> what do you want to talk to me about? >> it's serious actually. >> should i leave? >> no, i want you to stay, too. >> the day that you chose to get married was a significant day. people didn't realize it really until they worked it out. it was the day that your mother was born and the day that your son michael was born who so tragically passed away a year ago. did you choose that day deliberately or was it a freak coincidence? >> i chose it deliberately. it was either do it then or -- >> the next break at the end of august. >> i didn't want to wait until august. i was born on my father's birthday. i celebrated with him and michael always celebrated with my mom. it was chosen because i -- that was a great day. that's the day he was born. it was a wonderful, wonderful gift. he's an amazing boy. that way they could be there symbolically. >> completely. i get it. >> i know my mom had something to do with getting me an steve back together. i know she did. i think she put that dress in my garage. >> would she have been happy? >> oh, yes. >> my parents loved steve. >> what were you thinking about michael on the day you got married given that it was the day he was born. >> we took a picture as a matter of fact with steve and all the kids. and i had donny stand in for michael. we're going to put michael's face on his body. >> she does that a lot. >> i watched the oprah interview you did. you talked about michael's death. donny you came on as well. i was getting emotional watching it. it was heart rending to see you talk about it. i don't want to go over all of that again. i was struck by one thing. do you ever get over it or do you just learn to deal with it? what's the reality? >> you never get over that. somebody walked up to my daughter and said, are you over that now? her heart broke. no. there is always a place that is set in your heart at the dinner table. there is always a celebration where he's there. it doesn't heal. it just gives you little breathers. you know, he's my baby. so i had always had great empathy for people who lost a child because of my work with children's miracle network and being one of the founders. i have been with people who lost their children and i really thought i felt what they feel and you do, but it's a really lousy club to belong to. >> it's the worst parental nightmare. >> god says you go through the sorrow to know the joys. i know the great joy of his life and he went through so much. and i learned a lot from the things that he went through, too, actually, in a lot of ways going through his challenges helped me wake up from my own bad situations. and my past marriage and everything else. michael, little arch angel. he was and is an angel still. i felt him that day. did. >> you felt his presence on your wedding day? >> yeah, and my mom. i'm telling you, i know my mom. i'm her only daughter. i know my mom. >> what was it like to see your sister go through such a crushing tragedy and be working with her at the same time. >> you can only imagine what we went through here at the flamingo. she went -- tried to go on stanl -- on stage a week after that and she did. after a week she said, i can't do this. >> i got so sick. lungs, the symbolic, emotional is grief. i couldn't breathe. i couldn't even sing. >> does performing act as a release as people often say it does? is it a way of getting back into your life? >> you've got to be careful about that, piers. it can be the wrong medicine if you take too much of it. if you live for this, that's wrong. this is our job. we love doing what we do, but if you use it to just cover up pain you disregard all the dirt in your life, you keep sweeping it under the carpet. sometime you have to clean up the dirt. it's great that marie was busy doing the show. and she did. she faced the issues and she addressed them and she took care of them. >> marie, when you looked out, first saw the audience they would have all known what happened to you. probably amazed that you were even performing. did you draw a great comfort from the audience reaction? >> you know, everybody will have their reasons for doing things. for me, i had postpartum depression. i think part of me was -- if i didn't work i don't know if i ever would again. also, i believe in service when you're in great pain. if you step outside your pain and serve other people it really helps. that was my way of serving, making people feel better. and the way i coped with it at that time. >> it was so interesting, piers, the amount of support she got, not jus