Kirstie Alley once pined for her costars John Travolta and Patrick Swayze

Kirstie Alley wasn’t shy about the love she shared for some of her leading men, though she claimed that she stayed faithful to her marriage.

The actress, whose death at 71 was announced on Monday, previously delved into her romantic history in 2018 during a stint on Celebrity Big Brother UK, in which she confessed that she ‘almost ran off’ with John Travolta, 68.

The twice-divorced star also spoke elsewhere about the feelings she shared for another costar, the late Patrick Swayze, although both opted not to pursue an affair to focus on their marriages.

Special relationship: Kirstie Alley considered John Travolta the ‘greatest love’ of her life, even though they never had a romantic relationship. They are pictured here in 1989’s Look Who’s Talking 

Love at a distance: Kirstie was candid about her feelings for the actor. ‘[It was] the hardest decision I’ve ever made [to not have an affair] because I was madly in love with him — we were fun and funny together,’ she once said. ‘It wasn’t a sexual relationship because I’m not going to cheat on my husband’; (pictured with the actor in 1992) 

While regaling her Celebrity Big Brother costars with some of her past romantic efforts, Kirstie devoted special attention to Travolta.

‘I think I kissed Travolta,’ she confessed. ‘I almost ran off and married John. I did love him, I still love him.’

However her marriage at the time prevented her from trying to strike up a relationship with the Saturday Night Fever star.

‘If I hadn’t been married I would’ve gone and married him and I would’ve been in an airplane because he has his own plane,’ she said.

Costar: ‘I think I kissed Travolta,’ she confessed on Celebrity Big Brother UK in 2018. ‘I almost ran off and married John. I did love him, I still love him’; publicity still for Look Who’s Talking Too in 1990

Held back: ‘If I hadn’t been married I would’ve gone and married him and I would’ve been in an airplane because he has his own plane,’ she said; seen in 2007

Though she didn’t specify when her infatuation with Travolta was at its zenith, the two appeared together in the comedy Look Who’s Talking in 1989, and they returned for the sequels Look Who’s Talking Too (1990) and Look Who’s Talking Now (1993).

The first film was a monster hit and starred Kirstie as a single pregnant woman who falls in love with a taxi driver (Travolta) after he takes her to the hospital to give birth.

Her infant son’s voice was played in the film by John’s friend Bruce Willis.

In 1991, Travolta married Kelly Preston, who died in 2020, two years after she was diagnosed with breast cancer.

Kirstie and John stayed lifelong friends, and they were both high-profile Scientologists.

She was even more open about her Travolta during a 2013 Howard Stern interview, calling the Blow Out star ‘the greatest love of my life,’ and adding that ‘It took me years to not look at John as a romantic interest.’ 

In 2018, Kirstie confessed on the Dan Wootton Interview podcast that not carrying on an affair with John was ‘one of the hardest things I’ve ever done.’

Hit series: The two appeared together in the comedy Look Who’s Talking in 1989, and they returned for the sequels Look Who’s Talking Too (1990) and Look Who’s Talking Now (1993); seen in 1989

‘[It was] the hardest decision I’ve ever made because I was madly in love with him — we were fun and funny together,’ she said. ‘It wasn’t a sexual relationship because I’m not going to cheat on my husband.

‘But, you know, I think there are things that are way worse than sexual relationships, than cheating on someone that way,’ she added. ‘I consider what I did even worse because I actually let myself fall in love with him and stay in love with him for a long time.’

In the same interview, she admitted that her infatuation with Travolta continued after his 1991 marriage to Preston, who eventually put a stop to the flirtations.

‘Kelly came up to me, and they were married then, and she said, “Erm, why are you flirting with my husband?”‘ she recalled. ‘And that was sort of when I had to make a decision and that was pretty much the end of that.’

But she stressed that it was best for the two of them not to have pursued a relationship because they were ‘so alike.’

‘It would be like two blazing stars that just fizzled out,’ she said. 

In a moving post remembering his late friend, Travolta wrote that Kirstie was ‘one of the most special relationships I’ve ever had.’

He added a sweet photo of the two longtime pals gazing affectionately into each other’s eyes while beaming.

‘I love you Kirstie,’ he added. ‘I know we will see each other again.’

Sweet: In a moving post remember his late friend, Travolta wrote that Kirstie was ‘one of the most special relationships I’ve ever had’

Loss: He added a sweet photo of the two longtime pals gazing affectionately into each other’s eyes while beaming. ‘I love you Kirstie,’ he added. ‘I know we will see each other again’ 

Kirstie also opened up in the past about how she fell in love with her former costar Patrick Swayze, who died in 2009 at age 57, years before working with Travolta.

The two shared the screen when they appeared in the 1985 miniseries North And South.

‘I would’ve loved to have an affair with Patrick Swayze but we were both married so I wouldn’t have gone off [with him],’ she revealed on Celebrity Big Brother UK.

‘I kissed him and I wish I could’ve had an affair but I’m a strong believer in fidelity and he was married,’ she explained. ‘When you get on the road and you do a movie, it’s very easy to fall in love with your leading man. Very, very easy.’

Part of what made it so difficult to not fall for the leading man was how much time they were forced to spend together for work.

‘Think about it. We shot North And South for a year. So, for a year you’re around this person and it’s just hard, I think,’ she said.

Kirstie also opened up in the past about how she fell in love with her former costar Patrick Swayze, who died in 2009 at age 57, when they worked on the miniseries North And South (1985)

Kirstie was twice married, first to Bob Alley from 1970 to 1977, though the union fizzled out when she realized the spark had faded between the two.

She tied the knot again in 1983 to the actor Parker Stevenson, 70, with whom she shares her son William, 30, and daughter Lillie, 28.

The couple later divorced in 1997. 

Two years after their divorce was finalized, Parker confessed to People that he and Kirstie were ‘not friends now,’ though they still kept in regular touch at the time to help parent their children.

‘Kirstie and I are exact opposites,’ he claimed. ‘That’s what made it so interesting,’ though being opposites ‘makes for not a good marriage.’

There were no hints of that tension in a tribute Parker shared for his late ex-wife on Instagram after her death was announced.

‘Dear Kirstie,’ he began, ‘I am so grateful for our years together, and for the two incredibly beautiful children and now grandchildren that we have. 

He added, ‘You will be missed,’ before sending his ‘love.’

‘You will be missed’: Kirstie was married to Parker Stevenson from 1983 to 1997. He shared a sweet message for her after her death was announced; seen in 1988

Family: Kirstie adopted her son William, 30, and daughter Lillie, 28, with Stevenson during the marriage, which lasted from 1983 to 1997; seen with William and Lillie in 2000

Kirstie’s last major public relationship following her marriage to Parker was with her Nevada costar James Wilder, 54, who was 17 years her junior.

The two met on the set of the film, which was released in 1997. They were quickly engaged, but the two parted ways after two years together.

While speaking with Dateline in 2004, Kirstie seemed to suggest that the relationship was a mistake while implying that her judgment was impaired when it came to romance.

‘I just did some real soul searching. And I didn’t like myself. I didn’t like what I’d become. I’d sort of become something I wasn’t,’ she said. ‘I didn’t like the way I was in relationships. I didn’t like who I was choosing. I was making a lot of mistakes. So what I decided was to really prioritize my life into what was important to me and what I wanted to be known for by myself.’

Kirstie’s last major public relationship following her marriage to Parker was with her Nevada costar James Wilder, 54, who was 17 years her junior. They got engaged after appearing in the 1997 film, but they parted ways after two years together; seen in 1998 in LA