Not many things can surprise you in a marriage like learning you’re partially related to your partner, but this one certainly does. And that’s what occurred when 66-year-old Kevin Bacon and his wife, 58-year-old Kyra Sedgwick, found out they are cousins.
The awkward incident was captured on camera when the actor from Footloose decided to research his ancestry.
Following their collaboration on the 1988 film Lemon Sky, the couple developed a deep romantic attachment to one another. Later that year, Bacon and Sedgwick married and welcomed two children.
However, it was revealed to Sedgwick in a 2013 Finding Your Roots show that hubby Bacon was her distant cousin.
Like the British series Who Do You Think You Are?, the American program lets viewers discover their ancestry. Presenter Henry Louis Gates Jr. on Finding Your Roots showed Sedgwick a picture of her ninth cousin after she was cut out and said, “And his name is Kevin Bacon.”
Sedgwick replied, “See,” alluding to his earlier worries that the show might reveal their relationship. I was aware of it! I was aware of it! I was aware of it! I was aware of it! I was aware of it.
But she went on, “As long as we’re not first cousins, it’s okay.” It is said to Bacon in another scene of the show, “You and Brad Pitt are 13th cousins twice removed.”
Anthony Woolhouse is a shared ancestor of both President Obama and you. You are three times removed from your 12th cousin. Not joking. The actor answered, “I knew I wasn’t getting enough respect.”
Bacon has publicly acknowledged that at first he thought the game “Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon” was a joke about him and didn’t appreciate the premise.
The premise of the game is that, in six steps or less, almost any member of the film business may be connected to Bacon by their roles in films.
He clarified last year in an interview with the On With Mario Lopez podcast, saying, “I was terrified! as I believed it to be a prank made fun of me. Let’s face it, I was just thinking, “Oh come on, they’re just making fun of me.”
“I heard about it, people would come up to me and say, ‘My cousin invented a game about you,’ or ‘I’m so hungover, I was playing your game last night,” Bacon recalled, explaining how he had originally learnt about the game. I was like, “I think,” not understanding what they were talking about.
The celebrity continued by stating that he had thought the game would have become extinct by now, yet it is still very popular. “It’s difficult to believe, but we didn’t have the same—we didn’t use that word if something went viral,” Bacon remarked.
“Viral wasn’t an idea; it was just a virus! However, it continued to spread, and even though I sincerely believed it would go away, it persisted!
