Kevin Costner‘s dating life continues to be a hot topic ever since he settled his divorce from Christine Baumgartner in September 2023. His name has been attached to more than one A-list woman, but some of the rumors might just be a fun PR ploy if fans are to believe this claim.

Kevin CostnerGilbert Flores/Variety.

The 70-year-old actor and former Today host Hoda Kotb have been keeping their flirtation front and center for almost a year now, but one Life & Style insider is telling everyone not to believe the hype. “Hoda and Kevin do the whole flirting thing more for a gag than anything,” the source alleged. “They know it gets people talking and they think it’s hilarious, but neither of them are really serious about taking this out of the friend zone.”

TODAY — Pictured: Hoda Kotb on Friday, October 6, 2023.Nathan Congleton/NBC via Getty Images.

In a late February appearance at the Runway for Recovery fashion show in New York City, the 60-year-old media personality played right into the headlines. “Isn’t it sort of weird that he always ends up where I am?” Kotb teased Us Weekly. “I mean, I’m just living my life, and there he is. It just keeps happening. When is it not a coincidence anymore? That’s what I was wondering.”

Costner even made it into her Super Bowl photo dump when they ran into each other in the stadium — and we have to say he got a solid placement in the carousel. Kotb’s bright smile was in full force as she wrapped her right hand around his shoulder. The Yellowstone star looked pretty happy to see her with a sly grin on his face, but this meet-cute moment was evidently a platonic one. That didn’t stop her former Today show colleague Savannah Guthrie from chiming in the comments though. “New couple alert cc @jennabhager 🚨,” she wrote.

Hager was the one who first pointed out Kotb and Costner’s notable chemistry when he appeared on the morning show to promote Horizon: An American Saga in June 2024. That flirtation was put on full blast in July when a fan asked Kotb how she felt about “viewers shipping you and Kevin Costner” during her appearance on Watch What Happens Live With Andy Cohen.

“Well, if the viewers want it,” she joked. The response also sparked her Today show crew to go back into the archives and share a slow-motion video montage of their flirty exchange from Costner’s appearance. It made Kotb blush after watching the coy tucking of her hair behind her ear and his sweet embrace of her at the end of the interview.

Kotb said, “Y’all are ridiculous, the slow-[motion of the video] and the music really helped.”

It really would be a cute romance, but it doesn’t seem like the stars are aligning for this couple — Costner and Kotb just like the art of PR game.