He’s been married three times, but before Donald Trump became president of the United States, he was rejected by many famous names. So who are they, and how did their relationship – or lack of one – with the Don go down?
Candice Bergen
Before he married his first wife Ivana, Trump tried to find romance with Miss Congeniality star Candice Bergen in the 1970s – but it didn’t go past the first date. During an appearance on Watch What Happens Live in 2017 – where she wore a “Free Melania” T-shirt – Bergen admitted that she ended up leaving a blind date with Donald early, and that absolutely no canoodling occurred. Donald wore a three-piece burgundy suit and matching patent leather loafers to the date, even arriving in a burgundy limousine. “He was a good-looking guy … and a douche,” she confessed.
Brooke Shields
After Trump separated from Marla Maples, his second wife and Tiffany Trump’s mother, in 1997, the then-property mogul contacted actress Brooke Shields in the hope of forming the next power pairing – but it was not meant to be.
Also on Watch What Happens Live, in 2017, Shields recounted that Trump called her while she was on the set of a movie. “He said, ‘I really think we should date because you’re America’s sweetheart and I’m America’s richest man and the people would love it,’” she said. She let him down gently by saying she had a boyfriend and he wouldn’t be happy about her dating another man.
Princess Diana
Journalist Selina Scott told The Sunday Times in 2015 that after Diana’s split from Prince Charles, Donald repeatedly “bombarded” her flat in Kensington Palace with roses and orchids, in an apparent bid to get her to be his next “trophy wife”. But Scott said Trump apparently gave Diana “the creeps” and it felt like he was stalking her. Trump even admitted in his 1997 book The Art of the Comeback that the gestures didn’t work.
Emma Thompson
Trump also contacted Emma Thompson while she was on the set of Primary Colors in 1998, offering her accommodation at his Trump Tower before inviting her to dinner. Thompson – who had recently divorced from Kenneth Branagh at the time – vowed to get back to him but ultimately didn’t, she told Swedish TV show SVT in 2017.
Salma Hayek
In 2016, Mexican actress Salma Hayek revealed that Trump tried to date her by wooing both her and her boyfriend at the time. He invited the pair to stay at his resort and got both of their contact details, but only ended up contacting Hayek. “‘He’s not good enough for you. He’s not important, he’s not big enough for you. You have to go out with me,’” he apparently told Hayek, as she recounted to The Daily Show’s Trevor Noah.
.@SalmaHayek explains what it's like to be hit on by Donald Trump. https://t.co/8I78qVzVSP pic.twitter.com/O4h2h1c5qX
— The Daily Show (@TheDailyShow) June 9, 2017
The movie star – 20 years his junior – declined and went on to marry French billionaire François-Henri Pinault in 2009. The pair now have a daughter together. However, the 157cm-tall (five-feet-one) Hayek didn’t find the love of her life before 190cm-tall (six-foot-two) Trump, or someone close to him, allegedly told the National Enquirer that she was rejected for being “too short”.
Note: This story was originally published on SCMP and has been republished on this website.
