Michael Bergin Now: What He's Said About JFK Jr., Carolyn Bessette

The romance of former Calvin Klein model Michael Bergin and JFK Jr.'s eventual wife Carolyn Bessette Kennedy is being retold in a new FX series Love Story.

However, what's the real story? What has Bergin said about his relationship with Bessette and John F. Kennedy Jr.? Bessette Kennedy and JFK Jr. are not here to defend themselves, of course. They died in a plane crash near Martha's Vineyard in 1999. Bergin has given his side of the story several times, in a book and interviews. More recently, he hasn't seemed eager to talk about it all, and he's moved on with a wife and two kids.

"This is the story of a small-town kid who moved to the big city, fell in love with a beautiful, mysterious woman, and found himself in competition with the most eligible bachelor in the world, John F. Kennedy Jr.," the Amazon blurb for his book, The Other Man, reads.

Michael Bergin Alleged That Carolyn Bessette Had an Affair With Him During Her Marriage to John F. Kennedy Jr.

According to TMZ, in his book, Bergin, who met Bessette while modeling in the 1990s, "claimed he and Carolyn had an affair while she was married to John Jr. -- though many have disputed this account."

Bergin starred in "iconic underwear ads" as a model, People reported.

What has Bergin said about his relationship with Carolyn? “Carolyn and I had a very intense love for each other," Bergin told Edward Klein, according to Vanity Fair. "We were inseparable for a couple of years. And I know deep in my heart that she still loved me even after she married John Kennedy. Some things just don’t end.”

Vanity Fair recounted a story from Clifford Streit, who was Bergin's former manager. “Michael lived in a second-floor walk-up in Greenwich Village, and I was in his apartment one day, and we were in the middle of something when he was buzzed on the intercom from the apartment building’s front door,” Streit said. “Michael asked me to leave immediately, and when I went out, I found Carolyn hiding under the staircase."

“I said, ‘Hi, Carolyn, what are you doing?’” Streit continued. “And she said, ‘Oh, hi, I’m just going upstairs to Michael’s.’" At the time, Klein wrote, Carolyn was already living with JFK Jr.

“When I got home, Michael called me and said in a kind of panic, ‘You saw Carolyn! Why did you talk to her?’ He really loved Carolyn and wanted to protect her," Streit told Klein.

“Michael didn’t feel comfortable continuing a relationship after she began living with John. But Carolyn was obsessed with Michael. And one day she went up the fire escape to his apartment and broke the window to get in." He added, “After she married John, Michael decided to stop seeing her. There is something strangely decent about Michael, and he was respectful of marriage vows.”

Bergin told the author about an incident with Carolyn. “Carolyn climbing fire escapes doesn’t surprise me,” Bergin said, according to Vanity Fair. “If Carolyn wanted to get into someone’s apartment, she would. If she had to be a Spider-Woman to get into someone’s apartment, she would. If she had to throw things, she would."

He described an incident where Bessette allegedly saw him lighting an ex-girlfriend's cigarette in a bar. “Carolyn came over, pushed the girl out of the way, got in my face, and screamed and yelled at me, and even drew a little blood from my face," Bergin said, according to Vanity Fair, adding that she later showed up at his house and threw a heavy candle through the window before knocking over his television set.

In her 2024 book Once Upon a Time: The Captivating Life of Carolyn Bessette-Kennedy, Elizabeth Beller alleged that Bergin and Bessette dated during a time period when Carolyn and JFK Jr. "weren't on speaking terms after he received an anonymous letter claiming she was only dating him for fame."

However, Kennedy and Bessette got back together and ended up marrying each other in 1996, three years before they died.

“She threw Michael Bergin in John’s face,” said Clifford Streit, to author Klein. “I think she used Michael Bergin in any way she could to get whatever she wanted out of John. The only one in the world who thought Carolyn would choose Michael over John was John.”

According to Page Six, Bergin later told Good Morning America that the alleged affair “was wrong — on my part — and her part.”

“She was constantly drawn back to Michael Bergin,” a source told Page Six. “She was very in love with him, they had a real connection. I don’t know that they had a hard ending.”

Page Six alleged that Carolyn told Bergin that “she was pregnant, that the baby was his, and despite his willingness to raise the child with her, that she was going to have an abortion.”

Where Is Michael Bergin Now?

Bergin was photographed out and about after the FX series started running.

TMZ asked Bergin whether it's true that JFK Jr. was jealous of his relationship with Bessette. Bergin "shrugged off the question, implying he has no idea," TMZ reported.

According to TMZ, it didn't appear that Bergin had watched the show. "The photog complimented the work of Noah Fearnley, who portrays Bergin on the show ... but it's clear Michael doesn't care all that much," wrote TMZ.

Over the years, Bergin has appeared on numerous prominent television shows, including Baywatch, Charmed and CSI: Miami,People reported.

Bergin ended up marrying a makeup artist named Joy Tilk. She started a media company called Hot Moms Club, according to her bio. The bio says her son is a pitcher for the Miami Marlins, and her daughter is a model.

Bergin's Instagram page describes him as a "Former Calvin Klein model and Baywatch actor turned Top Los Angeles Real Estate Agent."

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