Who Is Kimberly Van Der Beek? A Closer Look at James Van Der Beek's Wife and Their Love Story

James Van Der Beek died at 48, leaving behind the woman who had stood beside him for more than a decade. She was by his side through some of the most challenging years of his life beyond Hollywood.

Together, the couple has weathered loss, a cross-country move, a devastating diagnosis, and raised six children together. But when they first met, Kimberly Van Der Beek wasn't looking for a relationship at all. James, on the other hand, couldn't have been more irritated that she'd interrupted his conversation with a friend.

By the time he passed away on February 12, 2026, Jame had spent over 15 years publicly crediting her as the person who demanded he become more authentic, vulnerable, and present than he'd ever been.

The Last Photo Together

On December 21, 2025, Kimberly shared a photo of herself standing close to her husband on their Texas ranch. James wore a dark green cardigan and brown jeans, his arm wrapped around her.

She captioned it simply: "Me and my bae." There was no hint that it would become their last known picture together.

Their love story defies Hollywood rom-com logic, built instead on tragedy, resilience, and what James once called Kimberly's "unwillingness to settle for anything less than what can and ought to be."

The Moment That Started It All

But how did a Hollywood actor and a producer who co-hosts a podcast called "Bathroom Chronicles" even meet? The story is almost too perfect to be real.

In 2010, James joined an organized trip to Israel at a turning point in his life. He had already experienced the highs of fame and marriage, the lows of divorce and financial strain, and the uncertainty of starting over alone.

And standing there, miles from home, he felt something shift. He didn't want to be single anymore. He wanted depth. Commitment. A future with someone.

He was pouring his heart out to a friend when a woman interrupted them to ask that friend a question. The timing felt almost rude. Who walks into someone else's epiphany like that?

He turned around. It was Kimberly. Three days later, he asked her what she wanted in a relationship. She told him she wasn't looking for one. Not at all.

Six months later, they were living together. Two weeks after that, they were expecting a baby. And nearly one year after that first interruption, on the exact spot where it all began, they said "I do."

A Wedding Written in Dreams

Their wedding on August 1, 2010, felt touched by fate. Months earlier, Kimberly had dreamed of a man who told her the exact date she would get married.

When they later learned that this very person could officiate their ceremony that same night — in the basement of the Kabbalah Centre in Tel Aviv, on the precise date from her dream — they didn't hesitate. They hurried to get ready.

Strangers danced around them as they celebrated. Later, Israeli paparazzi caught them off guard. The newlyweds ended the night at a simple outdoor Lebanese restaurant, complete with plastic tablecloths, plastic chairs, and unforgettable food. Looking back, James would later write that from there, their life together truly began.

On their 13th anniversary in 2023, James reflected on their journey: "We've gone through success, tragedy, joy, stress, triumph, uncertainty, and through it all… these have been the best years of my life. Every moment. Because I have the BEST adventure partner."

What Marriage Demanded

On their tenth anniversary, James reflected in detail on the impact Kimberly had on his life. He shared that their marriage had pushed him to become more present, honest, authentic, open, patient, passionate, daring, capable, fun, and vulnerable than ever before.

He also made one particularly striking admission, writing, "Even at the height of our most impassioned arguments... she's who I want by my side." He went on to describe her as the best person he knew, praising her bravery, tenderness, and refusal to settle for anything less than what should be.

A Season of Loss and Letting Go

Despite the joy and deep bond they shared, the Van Der Beeks also weathered storms most couples never face. The heartbreak began even as their family was growing.

While welcoming six children into the world, they lost five pregnancies. "We've had five miscarriages," Kimberly would reveal. "Two of them were late-term, near-death experiences."

The last two miscarriages happened back-to-back in 2020 within just ten months, testing them in ways they couldn't have imagined. Kimberly was hospitalized twice, and then came a terrifying scare — a suspected tumor that, thankfully, turned out to be nothing.

Amid it all, James was eliminated from "Dancing with the Stars" in front of millions, and his mother passed away. "All of that led to some drastic changes in our lives, and dreams, and priorities," James wrote when they finally landed at their new home.

In September 2020, the "Dawson's Creek" star announced they were leaving Los Angeles, "incredibly grateful for all the friends and memories." By October, they'd settled on a ranch in Texas with 30 chickens, five dogs, and one bearded dragon named Sharla.

"It felt like freedom," James would later say of the wide open space where their children — Olivia, 15, Joshua, 13, Annabel, 12, Emilia, 9, Gwendolyn, 7, and Jeremiah, 4 — could finally breathe.

Facing the Unthinkable at 46

In 2023, James received news that would shake their world again: colorectal cancer at just 46 years old. For Kimberly, a producer known for "Teenage Paparazzo" and "The Real Full Monty" who also co-hosts a podcast with Peggy Rometo, it was another storm to weather with her husband.

"This has been a really difficult year, but there's been this underlying way that we savor life differently," Kimberly reflected in November 2024. "It feels like we understand what real true presence is, what savoring life feels like, finding the beauty in all of it."

James was even more direct about what Kimberly meant to him during treatment. "There's no way to get through this without her," he said through tears.

A Family Built on Happy Accidents

Despite everything—or perhaps because of it—the Van Der Beeks embraced the chaos of raising six children. "We love having kids, but we didn't really plan it out," Kimberly admitted. "It just happened. We had one planned child."

James laughed about it: "One! Out of six. One was 100% on purpose. The one thing we really sucked at was not getting pregnant." He eventually got a vasectomy several years before his cancer diagnosis, joking it was "the only way we're going to stop this."

The couple didn't take their fertility for granted, knowing it was "such a struggle for people." In fact, Kimberly explained why talking about pregnancy loss mattered so much.

"We wait so long to tell people that we are pregnant so the possibility of miscarriage has decreased. But in the meantime, you're tired, you need help and you're going through one of the wildest times of your life," she said.

In October 2019, the couple made a brave decision. They allowed James's "Dancing with the Stars" crew to film their ultrasound appointment, something they never imagined doing. But after three previous appointments that discovered either no heartbeat or no baby, Kimberly wanted to share the moment.

James partnered with Quaker Chewy in 2023 to promote an hour of uninterrupted play each day with his children on their Texas ranch. "We're lucky enough to have the space to kick a ball around," he said of life with his kids.

The Final Chapter

Following James's passing on February 12, 2026, Kimberly released a statement that honored the man she'd spent 15 years building a life with: "Our beloved James David Van Der Beek passed peacefully this morning. He met his final days with courage, faith, and grace."

The woman who interrupted James's big revelation about finding a soul mate in 2010 became exactly that—proving that sometimes the most annoying interruptions turn into life's greatest blessings.