DANCES WITH JEWEL
Actor/director Kevin Costner's rumoured romance with singer-songwriter not a surprise to friends
Friends of Kevin Costner and Jewel, who sparked romance rumours after they were photographed canoodling together, aren't surprised the two have struck up a relationship.
“Kevin and Jewel had an extremely high opinion of each other and have always gotten along great,” a source tells Us Weekly. “They check a lot of boxes for each other.”
According to an insider, Costner, 68, and mother-of-one Jewel, 49, got together “organically” over their love of music.
“He's really into his (band, Modern West), and singing, and she's very much a part of that countryand-western world,” the source continues, adding that the pair have been part of the same social circles
“for years.”
“Some of their mutual friends joke how it's surprising they didn't get together years ago,” they add.
Photos published by
TMZ earlier this month showed the
Oscar winner with his arms wrapped around the Foolish
Games singer during a weeklong charity event at Richard Branson's
Necker Island in the British Virgin Islands.
“Every year, my foundation @inspiringchildren and I go to Necker Island to help host a tennis event w @ richardbranson to raise funds for our kids,” Jewel wrote in a social media post that also mentioned Costner.
“There was definitely something going on,” an observer told the outlet. “They were flirty. And when they were together, it was like they both just lit up.”
One scooper added, “You could tell they were trying to be discreet, but anybody who saw them could tell something was going on.”
Another confidante credited Branson for playing matchmaker. “Richard is 100% responsible for Kevin and Jewel hooking up,” the Daily Mail reported. “She has been a friend of Branson's for years and he has been a close friend of Kevin's since the 1990s.”
“They hit it off well and Jewel seems to be happy about it,” spilled the source.
But following Jewel's 2014 divorce and Costner's nasty separation from Christine Baumgartner earlier this year, the pair are taking things slow. “There's no pressure of expectation here,” someone intimate with the twosome tells Us. “Kevin just wants to go with the flow — and so does she. But the consensus is that he's found a real keeper in Jewel and that this has the makings of something that could be very special.”
A separate source goes on to tell People that the romance is
"not brand new.
“The relationship between Kevin and
Jewel is fresh, but not brand new. There is very big attraction on both sides,” they said.
“Jewel likes Kevin's type and Kevin likes to be in a relationship, so this is cool,” adds the source. “He is having fun after his contentious divorce. He is glad that is over.”
Costner and Baumgartner settled their split in September, but not before some of the personal details about their lavish lifestyle were made public.
“Kevin and Christine Costner have come to an amicable and mutually agreed upon resolution of all issues pertaining to their divorce proceedings,” a rep for Costner said in a joint statement for the duo at the time.
Baumgartner, 49, filed for divorce from the Yellowstone star in May after 18 years of marriage. They share three children: Cayden, 16, Hayes, 14, and Grace, 13.
At the time, a rep for the Dances With Wolves actor expressed his “sadness” over the breakup.
“It is with great sadness that circumstances beyond his control have transpired which have resulted in Mr. Costner having to participate in a dissolution of marriage action,” Costner's publicist Arnold Robinson said in a statement.
It was his second marriage and followed a divorce from his first wife that reportedly cost him $80 million. Baumgartner cited irreconcilable differences as the reason for the breakup, but a source told People at the time that if it had been up to Costner they would have stayed married.
“It was not anything that he wanted or sought and if he could change the situation, he would,” they said. Costner's love life has been the focus of intense speculation now that he's back on the market. In early November, after rumours of a romance between Costner and Reese Witherspoon swirled online, a rep for the actress denied the claims, saying, “This story is completely fabricated and not true.”
Wahlberg and his wife Rhea Durham, who share four children together, recently visited their 20-year-old daughter Ella in South Carolina, where she goes to college. “They were having the most fun I've ever seen anybody have, ever! Even more than her coming to Vegas,” Wahlberg recalled during a new interview with Entertainment Tonight. “I was at the frat house and, you know, a couple of spots in town.”
— Postmedia Network