The Affair Rumors That Plagued JFK Jr. & Carolyn Bessette's Marriage
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John F. Kennedy Jr. and Carolyn Bessette had a heartbreaking love story that ended with their deaths in a plane crash in 1999. As a handsome member of the political dynasty that was the Kennedy family, JFK Jr. was one of the country's most eligible bachelors. Before he tied the knot with Bessette, JFK Jr. had had quite the dating history. Bessette had her own romantic past, and one of the red flags in the Bessette/JFK Jr. marriage was the rumors that Bessette continued a romantic relationship with Michael Bergin, a past partner, even after she was married.
Bergin was a Calvin Klein model, and Bessette worked at the fashion house, which is where the two of them met. Bergin was also a member of the "Baywatch" cast, playing Jack "J.D." Darius, and wrote a book about his life called "The Other Man: A Love Story," in which he claims to have had a romantic relationship with Bessette even after she was married.
As for why Bergin went public about the affair, he told "Good Morning America" that Edward Klein's book "The Kennedy Curse" painted Bessette in what he felt was an unreasonably negative and untrue light. It sounded like Bergin wanted to set the record straight about someone he clearly still respected.
Michael Bergin said his affair with Carolyn Bessette was wrong
Michael Bergin said that he and Carolyn Bessette dated in 1992, before Bessette and John F. Kennedy Jr. got together, and claimed in his book that the two of them continued a relationship even after Bessette and JFK Jr. became an item. In an interview with "Good Morning America" in 2004, when his book came out, Bergin said he'd had the affair and that "It was wrong — on my part and her part."
He also said that Bessette had her doubts about JFK Jr.'s fidelity towards her not long after the wedding. But even with Bessette's reported worries about her husband's faithfulness, not everyone felt that way.
Steven Gillon, who wrote the biography "America's Reluctant Prince: The Life of John F. Kennedy Jr.," and he didn't believe that JFK Jr. was cheating on Bessette. Gillon met JFK Jr. at Brown University; the president's son was a student while Gillon was a TA. "I doubt that John was involved with anyone else or having an affair," Gillon told Page Six. "He used to say that he did not want to treat his wife the way his dad treated his mom." John F. Kennedy was infamously known for reportedly having a number of affairs.