Kevin Bacon and his wife Kyra Sedgwick, who have been married for over 35 years, recently made a surprising discovery—they are distant cousins. The revelation came during a 2013 episode of the PBS show Finding Your Roots, which explores the ancestry of celebrities. Sedgwick, who appeared on the show, learned that she and Bacon are ninth cousins once removed.
The discovery was made by the show's host, Henry Louis Gates Jr., who showed Sedgwick a photo of her distant cousin and announced, "And his name is Kevin Bacon." Sedgwick, who had already expressed concerns about finding out she was related to her husband, responded with, "See. I knew it! I knew it! I knew it! I knew it! I knew it!" She later added, "As long as we're not first cousins, it's fine."
The couple, who met while working together on the 1988 movie Lemon Sky and married later that year, have two children together. Despite the unexpected familial connection, there have been no indications that this revelation has impacted their relationship.
During the same episode, Bacon was also informed of other interesting familial connections. He was told that he and actor Brad Pitt are 13th cousins twice removed, and that he shares a common ancestor with former President Barack Obama, making them 12th cousins three times removed. "No kidding. I knew I wasn’t getting enough respect," Bacon quipped in response.
Bacon has previously spoken about the popular game "Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon," initially admitting that he didn't like the concept, thinking it was a joke at his expense. In a 2023 interview on the On With Mario Lopez podcast, Bacon explained, "I was horrified! Because I thought it was really a joke at my expense." However, he has since come to accept the game's enduring popularity, noting, "It spread and spread and spread, and I honestly thought it was gonna go away, and it just didn’t go away!"
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