Kevin Bacon left baffled after finding out his wife is actually his cousin

Kevin Bacon was taken aback after uncovering a surprising detail about his family history; he and his wife, Kyra Sedgwick, are distantly related.

The Hollywood couple first met while starring opposite each other on the 1988 film Lemon Sky, with their encounter on set sparking a 38-year romance.

During a marriage that has produced two children, the acting duo has become one of the most recognisable couples in showbiz.

From co-stars to cousins

But in 2013, during an appearance on the genealogy series Finding Your Roots, Sedgwick discovered that her husband was actually her distant cousin.

The US show, similar in concept to the UK’s Who Do You Think You Are?, traces celebrities’ ancestry and uncovers unexpected, cross-familial connections.

On the program, host Henry Louis Gates Jr. presented Sedgwick with an image of her ninth cousin once removed before revealing the name: Kevin Bacon.

Sedgwick, who had previously joked that she suspected they might be related, responded triumphantly, repeating: “I knew it!” She then quipped that as long as they weren’t first cousins, she could live with it.

The discovery added another layer to Bacon’s long association with the pop culture phenomenon known as Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon, a game based on the idea that almost anyone in Hollywood can be linked to him through film roles in six steps or fewer, such is the prolific nature of the Murder in the First star’s repertoire.

Bacon's family twist

Speaking on the On With Mario Lopez podcast, Bacon admitted he was initially left mortified by the concept. He said he assumed it was a joke at his expense and didn’t realize how widespread it had become.

“I was horrified,” he explained, recalling how people would approach him mentioning a game about him, while he made the admission that he had no idea what they meant. At first, he believed the trend would fade, but instead it continued to gain traction.

During the same genealogy show, Bacon also learned he shares distant family ties with fellow film star, Brad Pitt; identified as 13th cousins twice removed, as well as with former US president Barack Obama, as 12th cousins three times removed through a shared ancestor. Joking about the revelation, Bacon remarked that perhaps he hadn’t been getting enough respect after all.

He has since acknowledged that while he once bristled at the concept, the well-humored screen icon has ultimately adopted the association as an enduring and unexpected part of his legacy.

Featured Image. Credit: Allen Berezovsky / Getty Images