Yellowstone star Kevin Costner’s wife has filed for divorce from the Oscar winner after 18 years of marriage, but their split is not the first turmoil they’ve experienced. In fact, she gave him an ultimatum before they even married in 2004.
Costner’s estranged wife is Christine Baumgartner, but don’t go searching for her on social media. Just because the former professional model is private doesn’t mean she’s meek, however.
Baumgartner was Costner’s second wife. He was previously married to Cindy Costner, but they divorced in 1994. He brought four kids into the new relationship, including three with Cindy and one with ex-girlfriend Bridget Rooney, whom he dated before striking a romance with the now 49-year-old Baumgarter. The issue of children is what nearly broke them before they even wed.
The couple met years before they began dating in the late 1990s and went public in roughly 2000, when she was about 25 and he was around 45. In 2003, they broke up — she wanted kids of her own, and he was pretty content.
Spoiler alert: She won that argument, but not by staying patient.
Talking to Parade in 2012, Costner recalled being issued what sounds like an ultimatum.
“She said, ‘I’m going to wait for you, but not long. When you come to your senses, come back to me,'” the future John Dutton shares.
“And I did.”
Fast forward to 2023, and Costner and Baumgartner have had three kids together: Sons Cayden and Hayes were born in 2007 and 2009, respectively, and daughter Grace was born in 2010. Together they have lived on 160 acres in Colorado (per Brides Magazine).
Professionally, Baumgartner moved on from modeling to become a successful businesswoman and entrepreneur. Around the time of her marriage to Costner she began Cat Bag Couture, a company that designed luxury purses, handbags and laptop cases. Talking to the Denver Post in 2005, she admitted that Costner helped her get the business off the ground, but the genesis was an idea she had with a friend named Tamara Muro (“CAT” stands for Christine and Tamara). The company’s website is no longer active.