Italian-French Supermodel and pop singer Carla Bruni, known as France’s First Lady after dating French president Nicolas Sarkozy, was wooed by Kevin Costner as well. Their dating didn’t last. But, Bruni, one of the world’s first supermodels, also broke up with Mick Jagger and Eric Clapton, so he was in good company.
Just as it seemed Costner was ready to tie the knot again with beauty Elle Macpherson, he slipped into another affair and then back into bachelorhood.
'Good Morning America' Host Joan Lunden Falls for Costner
At the peak of his fame, right in the middle of 'Waterworld', and at the height of his 1995 dating deluge, Costner found a new friend. Would this one be his true love? A romance with Joan Lunden, ABC’s popular 'Good Morning America' host who manned the desk until 1997, was sending off sparks. His new love tangle with the American journalist, author, and TV host was a hot story in media circles, and with 'Waterworld' promotion coinciding, a lightning storm of tabloid and media attention was so intense it severed the couple’s relationship.
Apparently, Costner romanced the TV journalist quite lavishly. He took her out on the open sea in a lovely yacht for a special date. As Lunden recalls, “He got this yacht and we sailed around New York Harbor and had dinner.” She said, “It was quite romantic and quite beautiful". The charming prince wouldn’t stay long, after being spooked by a hounding media, it seems. “I think Kevin and I would have dated longer had it not been for the unbelievable press focus on us,” Lunden said.
Single Life Gets Serious with a Live-in Girlfriend
A new year, a new lifestyle. In 1996, Costner and Australian model Elle Macpherson started dating. Charmed by the amazing celeb model, actress, businesswoman, and TV host, their relationship progressed into “serious” territory posthaste.
Costner gushed, “I feel I have met my equal with this beautiful, talented, funny and lovely person.” Within months the couple moved in together. The singles lifestyle gave way to domestic stability, no matter how short-lived. It was over by the end of the year.
1997 Was a Good Year for Costner
Two successful films lifted Costner into the coveted realm of actor accolades. He was nominated for a Golden Globe Award for his outstanding performance in 'Tin Cup' (1996) and was honored with a nomination for a Saturn Award for his 1997 film 'The Postman'. And then the year got a little better.
He met news anchor Tawny Little. He dated the Miss America pageant winner secretly in 1997 and 1998. Costner wasn’t the first celeb Little dated. She had relationships with Ron Silver and Burt Reynolds, as well.
A Steamy 1999 Rumor Enrages John Travolta
By 1999, when Costner was filming 'For the Love of the Game', it wasn’t a professional baseball player pal he ticked off. Instead, it was an actor colleague. Apparently, men do not appreciate rumors of their wife hooking up with Kevin Costner. 'For the Love of the Game' co-star Kelly Preston, who happened to be married to John Travolta, became the focus of a brief tabloid flare-up.
While working on the film, the gossip press asserted the couple’s romance spilled from the storyline and the set into more intimate, offscreen places. National Enquirer published a story claiming that Travolta was “furious.” Neither Costner nor Preston addressed the press allegations. Meanwhile, Travolta and Preston remained married. And, Costner was just on the cusp of meeting “the one.”