It’s been a year since Kevin Costner’s messy divorce from his wife of 20 years, Christine Baumgartner, was finalised.

And while the Hollywood heart-throb vowed to ‘go forward’ following the ‘crushing’ shock split in May 2023, insiders have revealed how Kevin was left feeling ‘sucker-punched’ last week after learning of his exes’ engagement to their former neighbour.

Insiders revealed how multi-millionaire financier Josh Connor, 49 – a one-time pal of Kevin’s and he and Christine’s former neighbour – had proposed to Christine, 50, on a deserted beach following an intimate dinner.

The couple are believed to have been dating since late 2023 after holidaying in Hawaii with friends together in the summer following her May 2023 divorce filing.

At the time, Christine told the divorce courts that she and dad-of-three Josh, who divorced his former partner earlier that year, were ‘nothing more’ than friends and that she had shared a bedroom with another female pal during their trip.

However, an insider says Kevin, 70, is ‘fuming’ after the engagement news, and feels that he has been duped into still funding Christine’s lavish lifestyle, despite her moving on with Josh, who is reportedly worth almost £250 million.

A source reveals, ‘Kevin is puffing out his chest and putting on a brave face, saying he actually pities Josh because, even if they don’t split, Josh will wind up being a henpecked misery in the end.

‘He’s certain Christine will eat him and spit him out like a hot potato once the honeymoon period wears off.

‘Yes, it does bother him that he’s paying through the nose and he feels like they are living the high life at some of his cost.’

Following the terms of the watertight pre-nup agreement she signed ahead of her marriage to Kevin in 2004, Christine – who shares Cayden,17, Hayes,15, and Grace,14 with the Yellowstone actor – vacated their £115 million family home in Carpentaria and is now believed to be living in Montecito, the leafy enclave where Meghan Markle and Prince Harry also reside.

The financial settlements of their 2024 divorce were not disclosed, but documents stipulated that Christine would receive a lump sum of £1.2 million from Kevin – who has an estimated net worth of £319 million – and a year’s worth of mortgage payments on a home up to the cost of £800,000, alongside monthly child maintenance.

But the source says, ‘According to Kevin she spends an absolute fortune each month on plastic surgery (he once estimated almost £150k) and to him that says everything about where her priorities are at.

‘She may come across as sweet and down to earth, but the fact that Josh is worth a quarter of a billion dollars isn’t lost on Kevin.’

Kevin, who also has three older children with his first wife, Cindy Silva, is said to be reeling from the engagement and views Christine’s relationship with Josh as a ‘betrayal’, the source says the actor also felt let down by the way in which the bombshell news was delivered.

They say, ‘To make things even worse, Kevin learned about the engagement from his kids. He had to try and hold in his reaction and not show his kids how much it hurt him because he vowed not to put them in the middle.

‘But of course, it was incredibly painful. He and Josh were close friends for years – the fact that he’s now engaged to Christine feels like such a betrayal. Kevin has been telling friends that Josh might feel he’s winning now, but he predicts it won’t be long before he’s regretting this.

‘He’s trying to look past the bitterness and build his own life, especially now he’s just turned 70 and things are looking up for him at last on the career front.’

Last month it was revealed how, despite flopping at the Box Office last year, Kevin’s new Western epic, Horizon: An American Saga, reached the top ten films watched globally on Netflix and became America’s most streamed film of the month.

And now the source adds, ‘He’s doing his best to put his focus on the positive things in his life right now. His passion project Horizon is now dominating the streaming charts, which is a huge coup and his friends are all congratulating him and urging him to think about that instead of Christine and Josh.

‘He’s also got Horizon 2 premiering this week in Santa Barbara, so he’s got plenty on his plate to keep him occupied. Still, it’s hard not to be consumed with anger over what he sees as a knife in his back.’

Yet celebrity insiders are telling showbiz fans to watch this space after Kevin was spotted at the same bar as fellow divorcee Jennifer Lopez during their mutual festive breaks in Aspen, Colorado in December.

While the pair were not photographed talking directly, insiders have since said that Kevin and J-Lo – whose divorce from Ben Affleck was finalised last month – have been exchanging messages, with Kevin reportedly sending the singer and mother-of-two champagne and flowers.

And with Ben further admitting that he found Jennifer’s love of Kevin’s Western drama, Yellowstone, ‘disturbing’, fans are hoping that rumours of a dinner meet-up between Kevin and Jennifer when their schedules align will happen in the next few months.

But the source says that, following this recent bombshell, Kevin is going to take some time to work through what he feels is a betrayal.

They add, ‘Everyone is urging Kevin not to dwell on this, but obviously it’s going to take some time for him to accept that she’s now engaged to a guy he once considered a good friend.’