- - Kate Winslet's Dating History: From Her “The Holiday” Costar Rufus Sewell to Husband Edward Abel Smith

Francesca GarianoDecember 27, 2025 at 10:30 AM

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Rufus Sewell and Kate Winslet at the Empire Awards ceremony on February 23rd, 1996 in London, England ; Kate Winslet and Ned Rocknroll attend the 'Prix de Diane Longines 2014' on June 15, 2014 in Chantilly, France.

Kate Winslet has been notoriously private about her Hollywood romances.

The Titanic actress has found love several times on film sets since the beginning of her career, including with her late ex-boyfriend Stephen Tredre and her first husband, Jim Threapleton. Now, Winslet is married to Edward Abel Smith.

Despite her high profile romances and subsequent splits throughout her career, Winslet remains proud of retaining her privacy throughout, telling WSJ. Magazine in September 2015, "No one really knows what has happened in my life."

"No one really knows why my first marriage didn't last; no one knows why my second didn't. And I'm proud of those silences," she added. "I know lots of people who are not in the public eye who have gone through several marriages, I really do, and it's just those are the cards that life dealt me. I didn't plan on it being that way. And f--- me, it hasn't been easy, you know."

Here's a look back at Kate Winslet's dating history before meeting her husband of 10 years and counting.

Stephen Tredre

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Kate Winslet at home on January 12th, 1995 in Reading, Berkshire.

Winslet and the late Stephen Tredre first met on the set of the 1991 sci-fi series Dark Season when she was 15 and he was 27. The couple ultimately split around five years later.

Winslet told PEOPLE in a November 2006 interview that Tredre made her feel "secure and embraced" and that he was "very inspiring," adding, "He had this extraordinary zest for life. My life revolved around him."

Before Winslet began filming the 1995 film Sense and Sensibility, Tredre was diagnosed with bone cancer. The couple broke up when the screenwriter's cancer had gone into remission. She recalled not understanding why they had broken up, explaining, "I was so young, when I look back on it. Only 19. How could I have left a person who was so unwell? I thought Stephen was going to be all right."

Following their split, Tredre got sick again, and the former couple continued to speak daily. Tredre died on Dec. 8, 1997, the same week Titanic premiered. Winslet ultimately missed the Los Angeles premiere of the James Cameron classic to attend his funeral back in the U.K.

Rufus Sewell

Alberto E. Rodriguez/Getty ; Jon Kopaloff/FilmMagic Kate Winslet, Rufus Sewell

Winslet and her future The Holiday costar, Rufus Sewell, dated briefly in the '90s.

While not much is known about their relationship, she spoke about their short romance during a March 1998 interview with Rolling Stone.

Winslet said the couple had engaged in a three-month "fling" that ultimately ended when she said both parties had decided unanimously, "'This is just a friendship, really, isn't it?' "

Jim Threapleton

Fred Duval/FilmMagic Kate Winslet and Jim Threapleton

Winslet and her first husband, director Jim Threapleton, first met in late 1997 on the Hideous Kinky set. In an April 1999 interview with Entertainment Weekly, Winslet described their chemistry as "love at first sight," adding, "When he first showed up on set, my actual reaction was, 'Oh, no ... ' because I saw this wonderful person and knew that something was going to happen."

The couple had their own meet-cute on set, with Winslet explaining, "When my car was approaching the first day, he turned his back because he didn't want me to see the initial reaction on his face. So the first view I had of my husband was his bum and his back ... which was nice."

The couple tied the knot in November 1998, in an intimate ceremony, and welcomed their daughter Mia on Oct. 12, 2000. However, Threapleton and Winslet ultimately divorced in 2001.

Their daughter has followed in her mother's footsteps by becoming an actress as well, which was a career move Winslet revealed she "always suspected."

The mother-daughter duo starred together for the first time in 2022's I Am Ruth, which premiered on U.K.'s Channel 4. In the film, Winslet played a mother, who tries to help her daughter, portrayed by Mia, with her mental health. Winslet was proud of her daughter for her performance, telling The Daily Mail in November 2022, "Actually, I was just so blown away by her. I mean, she didn't need my help at all."

Sam Mendes

Andrew H. Walker/Getty Kate Winslet and director Sam Mendes

Winslet met her second husband, director Sam Mendes, in the fall of 2001. At the time, he had approached Winslet to star in two stage productions at Donmar Warehouse in London, where he served as the artistic director from 1992 to 2002. Winslet ultimately turned down his offer and reflected on the decision during a 2008 interview with Vanity Fair.

She said that she knew she didn't have time in her schedule to do the plays that Mendes was asking about, but took the meeting regardless and said she was charmed by him. As Winslet put it, "Didn't want to do the plays, definitely wanted to get his phone number."

Emma Thompson was the ultimate catalyst for the spark in their relationship; Winslet's Sense and Sensibility costar hosted a barbecue so the couple could meet again.

Winslet and Mendes married in May 2003 while they were on vacation in Anguilla. The couple then welcomed their first child together and Winslet's second on Dec. 22, 2003, a son named Joe.

Winslet and Mendes ultimately split seven years later. In a statement given to PEOPLE in March 2010, their lawyers said, "Kate and Sam are saddened to announce that they separated earlier this year. The split is entirely amicable and is by mutual agreement. Both parties are fully committed to the future joint parenting of their children."

Edward Abel Smith

Marc Piasecki/Getty Kate Winslet and husband Ned Rocknroll attend the 'Prix de Diane Longines 2014' at Hippodrome de Chantilly on June 15, 2014 in Chantilly, France

Winslet met her third husband, businessman Edward Abel Smith, while they were both vacationing at his uncle Richard Branson's Caribbean home on Necker Island in August 2011.

While on the island, a fire broke out, leaving Winslet to rescue Branson's mother from the main house, while Smith went to a home nearby. Soon after, the couple tied the knot in December 2012.

At the time, a representative for Winslet told PEOPLE after getting engaged that summer, they wed in a private ceremony in early December, which was attended by a small group of friends and family, including her two children.

Winslet and Smith welcomed their first child together, a son named Bear Blaze, on Dec. 7, 2013. His middle name came from his parents' meet-cute after the fire broke out on Necker Island years prior.

Smith previously worked for his uncle's space initiative, Virgin Galactic, but traded in that title for a new one: stay-at-home dad. During a May 2021 interview with The New York Times, Winslet referred to Smith as a "superhot, superhuman, stay-at-home dad."

"He looks after us, especially me," she said. "I said to him earlier, like, 'Neddy, could you do something for me?' He just went, 'Anything.' He is an absolutely extraordinary life partner."

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