JFK Jr.'s Wife Carolyn Bessette Kennedy Used 'Breathtaking' Calvin Klein Model to Get Political Heir 'Jealous', Friend Claims
Carolyn Bessette used Calvin Klein model Michael Bergin to make JFK Jr. jealous.
March 6 2026, Published 1:20 p.m. ET
Carolyn Bessette was a woman on a mission to snag John F. Kennedy Jr. and used a hunky model and future Baywatch star to do it, RadarOnline.com can reveal.
Bessette was dating Calvin Klein stunner Michael Bergin when she went after the World's Most Eligible Bachelor, and he became collateral damage in the fashion publicist's ruthless yet successful attempt to become Mrs. JFK Jr.
Carolyn Bessette Sought Out JFK Jr.
Bessette moved from Boston to NYC with her sight set on landing JFK Jr.
Bessette was already used to grabbing the attention of men, including the heir to the Benetton fortune, Alessandro Benetton, and several Boston nightlife impresarios, before moving to New York to work for Calvin Klein and had her sights on JFK Jr., who in 1988 was named People's Sexiest Man Alive.
"I'm going to move to New York, and I'm going to get him," she told a Boston University pal that same year, according to JFK Jr. friend Steve Gillon in his biography, America's Reluctant Prince
It was in NYC that she began dating Bergin and later managed to get JFK Jr.'s attention.
"Carolyn found out which bar John Jr frequented and went there, and that's how they met. Not through Calvin," a friend told Maureen Callahan for her 2024 exposé, Ask Not: The Kennedys and the Women They Destroyed.
Carolyn Bessette 'Used' Michael Bergin to Make JFK Jr. 'Jealous'
Bessette dating JFK Jr. overlapped with her romance with Michael Bergin.
Bessette wasn't able to capture JFK Jr.'s heart, as he was still dating actress Darryl Hannah, but she had the hunk's attention enough for him to hook up with her whenever he and the Splash star were on a break.
She continued her romance with Bergin while on and off with the Camelot heir.
“He was a breathtaking man. He was a real beauty," a pal of the late fashionista raved about Bergin.
"Do I think she used Michael to get John jealous? I think Michael got John jealous. Carolyn was too smart to not be aware of that … She loved Michael," a source close to both Bergin and Bessette speculated.
The blonde beauty would get dated and dumped by JFK Jr. over the years, and it was Begin she ran back to every time.
"She was constantly drawn back to Michael Bergin," spilled the pal friend. "She was very in love with him; they had a real connection. I don't know that they had a hard ending."
Michael Bergin's Side of the Story With Carolyn Bessette
Bergin wrote about his twisted romance with Bessette in 2004.
Bergin wrote in his 2004 memoir, The Other Man, that Bessette became pregnant during their romance and told him she was getting an abortion, saying, "This isn't your decision."
The model said he asked her to join him in Connecticut for the weekend to talk about it, but she passed. When he returned to the city, Bessette's photo, sitting next to JFK Jr. while watching the NYC marathon, was plastered all over the New York Post.
Bergin said he accompanied Bessette to the procedure and looked after her for a week as she recovered.
Carolyn Bessette Was Still 'Drawn Back' to Micael Bergin After Marrying JFK Jr.
Never Miss an
Daily updates from the heart of Hollywood, right to your inbox
By entering your email and clicking Sign Up, you’re agreeing to let us send you customized marketing messages about us and our advertising partners. You are also agreeing to our Terms of Service and Privacy Policy.
Both Bessette and JFK Jr. were having affairs when they died in 1999.
Bessette went on to wed JFK Jr. in September 1996, but the fire was still alive with Bergin, and the newlyweds' marriage quickly became rocky.
"They still had a lot of chemistry," said the insider who noted that Bessette was "drawn back to" Bergin after becoming Mrs. JFK Jr.
The couple was killed in July 1999 when the small plane he was piloting crashed into the waters off Martha's Vineyard.
The actor, who played Jack "J.D." Darius on Baywatch and Baywatch: Hawaii, wrote about their affair in his memoir and told Good Morning America in 2004 that it "was wrong – on my part – and her part."
