Jean-Claude Van Damme has had four spouses but has been married five times. The names of Jean-Claude Van Damme’s spouses in order of their marriage are María Rodríguez, Cynthia Derderian, Gladys Portugues, and Darcy LaPier. He is currently married to Portugues.
Jean-Claude Van Damme is a Belgian martial artist, actor, and conservationist. In addition to being popular for his famous and successful professional career, Van Damme is also well known for his flamboyant relationship and marriage history, which has seen him marry five times to four different women. Despite being currently married, he has been in a long-term relationship with model Alena Kaverina. Read on as this article breaks down the timeline of his marital life and ex-spouses.
How Many Times Has Jean-Claude Van Damme Been Married?
Jean-Claude Van Damme has been married five times. Popularly called the Muscles from Brussels, Jeanne has simply enjoyed a successful career but the same cannot be said of his marriage life. He has been married five times, but to four women, find out how and who.
María Rodríguez was Jean-Claude Van Damme’s wife from 25th August 1980 to 1984
Jean-Claude’s first marriage was to María Rodríguez, a Venezuelan native. The two got married on 25th August 1980 in Brussels, a year before Jean ended his professional martial arts career and moved to Los Angeles to start anew. There, he worked as a limo driver, carpet layer, and pizza delivery man and subsequently got a job as a bouncer in a club.
Jean and Maria’s marriage was short-lived. They got divorced after four years in 1984, and although the actual reason for their divorce is not recorded, Jean’s career growth was speculated to have contributed to it. From then to date, nothing further was heard or is publicly known about María Rodríguez. They do not have any children together.
Cynthia Derderian was Jean-Claude Van Damme’s Spouse from 24th August 1985 to 1986
One year after his marriage with María Rodríguez came to an end, Jean-Claude Van Damme walked down the aisle for the second time with Cynthia Derderian. However, their union was more short-lived than his first marriage as they would divorce just one year later, precisely on 24th August 1985, just when Jean began to get his first acting gigs. The reason for their divorce is publicly not known.
Jean-Claude Van Damme’s union with Cynthia Derderian did not produce any children, just as it was in his first marriage with María Rodríguez.
Gladys Portugues became Jean-Claude Van Damme’s wife from 3rd January 1987 until 1992
Gladys Portugues is the third wife of Jean-Claude. She is an American former professional female bodybuilder and actress born on 30th September 1957. She was listed twice in the top 10 in the Ms. Olympia contest. Gladys and Jean got married on 3rd January 1987 and welcomed their first child, a son named Kristopher, on 20th May 1987. They welcomed their second child, a daughter, Kristopher, on 17th October 1990.
In 1992, news of their divorce went public, and it was not long before it was confirmed in the same year. While they were still married, Jean-Claude started an affair with actress Darcy LaPier, and that was reportedly what brought their union to an end.
Darcy LaPier was Jean-Claude Van Damme’s wife from 3rd February 1994 to 1997
Darcy LaPier is Jean-Claude’s fourth wife, with whom he allegedly had an affair while he was still married to Gladys. LaPier is an American former actress and model born on 9th July 1965. She is also an award-winning racer who trained and competed all over the United States.
Jean-Claude Van Damme and Darcy LaPier exchanged marital vows on 3rd February 1994 in Bangkok, Thailand. Their marriage produced a son named Nicolas Van Varenberg born in 1995. As the story goes, their union came crashing down just after three years of being together in 1997.
Jean-Claude Van Damme Remarried His Third Wife, Gladys Portugues, on 25th June 1999
Following his divorce from LaPier, Jean went back to Gladys, his third ex-wife, and began to spend time with her again. After a while, they began to fall in love with each other again and realized that they were actually meant to be together. They eventually reconciled and remarried on 25th June 1999 and have remained married ever since then.
Their two children, Kristopher and Bridgette, both have acting and modeling careers in their own right. Meanwhile, rumors made rounds sometime in 2015 that Jean and Gladys were planning to get another divorce and that Gladys had filed paperwork, citing the reason as irreconcilable differences. However, they again realized that the love they have for each other supersedes the challenges they may ever encounter.
| Names of Jean-Claude Van Damme’s Spouses | Marriage Date | Divorce Date |
| María Rodríguez | 25th August 1980 | 1984 |
| Cynthia Derderian | 24th August 1985 | 1986 |
| Gladys Portugues | 3rd January 1987 | 1992 |
| Darcy LaPier | 3rd February 1994 | 1997 |
| Gladys Portugues | 25 June 1999 | to date |
Meanwhile, even though he is still legally married to Gladys Portugues, Jean-Claude Van Damme is currently in a relationship with Alena Kaverina, a Ukrainian model. The duo have been together for over a decade.
Did Jean-Claude Van Damme and Kylie Minogue Have an Affair?
Yes, Jean-Claude Van Damme and Kylie Minogue had an affair in 1994. Jean only came out publicly to confirm this in 2012 after rumors about it had gone on for many years. For more than two decades, there were rumors that the martial artist cum actor had an affair with his Street Fighter co-star, Kylie Minogue, during the time they were filming the movie in Thailand.
A couple of times during interviews, Jean had been asked about his relationship with Minogue, but he would get annoyed and sometimes walk away from the interview. However, in 2012, while he was promoting his movie The Expendables 2, Jean granted an interview with The Guardian, and this time, he confirmed the rumors when he was asked about his relationship with Kylie.
“Yes. OK. Yes, yes, yes. It happened. I was in Thailand, we had an affair,” he stated. Jean went ahead to say that it would be abnormal not to have had an affair with Kylie Minogue because she is so beautiful and was there in front of him every single day with a beautiful smile, simpatico, so charming.
Jean-Claude had only positive comments to make about his connection with Kylie; “Sweet kiss, beautiful lovemaking… she’s a great lady.” He also added that their connection made Street Fighter worth it.