He’s been enjoying a whirlwind romance with singer Jewel the last three months, but Hollywood star Kevin Costner has been left ‘licking his wounds’ as their romance hits a stumbling block – and it wouldn’t be a surprise if his ex wife was rubbing her hands with glee about it.
An insider says, “Kevin and Jewel started their romance at 100 mph, but she’s insisted on taking a step back and it’s left him worried about their future and licking his wounds.”
They add, “Kevin and Jewel are still dating but she doesn’t live in LA so they’re doing the long-distance thing, which makes it a bit tough, especially because Kevin wants to spend all his time with her. 
“He would love for her to move in with him but she’s just not ready for that. She’s got a very full life back home and lots of friends, plus her son is still young and she’s not going to just uproot him from the life he knows because she has a new boyfriend. She explained that all to Kevin but he’s still taking it very personally and is pretty upset.”

The Yellowstone actor, 69, met folk-turned-pop singer Jewel during a trip to Richard Branson’s Necker Island on Thanksgiving weekend in November, two months after his divorce from Christine was finalised. He was spotted with his arms wrapped around her waist as they attended a tennis fundraiser for the Inspiring Children Foundation, which was founded by 49-year-old Jewel. 
Jewel gushed about “kind” Kevin on Instagram.
She wrote, “Every year, my foundation @inspiringchildren and I go to Necker Island to help host a tennis event w @richardbranson to raise funds for our kids…. @kevincostnermodernwest was kind enough to mentor our kids this year, and Sir Richard was his usual inspiring self- who also plays a mean game of doubles.”
After the trip, the tactile pair reportedly flew to the Caribbean together and spent over a week in each other’s company. Following the holidays, Kevin returned to Los Angeles while Jewel – who has 12-year-old son with ex husband Ty Murray – headed home to Telluride in Colorado, 800 miles away from her new beau.

The insider says that while Kevin – who has a net worth of £198 million – has a private jet and finds it straightforward visiting his new girlfriend, his pride has been dented that she hasn’t regularly travelled to him.
“It’s not that Kevin isn’t perfectly capable of visiting Jewel at her home in Telluride, he can hop on a private jet and be there in no time, it’s more a matter of pride. He has a huge ego, and he wants her to come and be with him at his place because he doesn’t like to be the ‘visitor,’ he likes to being the king of his castle.
“All the other women he’s ever been with, including his ex-wife, have been more than happy to just blend into his life and let him take the lead and call the shots because he’s always been the one with all the money and power, so he gets to make the rules.”

But they say Jewel – who has received four Grammy awards, plus 30 million album sales worldwide, including her 12-times platinum 1995 debut album Pieces of You – is independent and won’t dance to the tune of someone else.
“Jewel is not interested in that sort of dynamic at all. She’s extremely independent and isn’t impressed with his money or all his stuff.
“For one thing she has her own money, but she’s also not the least but materialistic. If anything, his excessive wealth is a turn-off to her, she can’t stand it if anyone tries to impress her by flashing the cash. She’s genuinely down to earth and she likes Kevin for who he is, not what he has.
They add that Kevin has “fallen in love with her” because she’s not a gold digger.
“That’s one of the things about her that he’s so attracted to. Besides her obvious physical beauty, she has a very beautiful heart and he talks about that all the time.
“Of course, the downside of that is he can’t use all the usual tricks to impress her. And he can’t just automatically have his way. It’s not that she isn’t willing to come and visit him, she totally is, she’s just not going to uproot her life.

“She really likes Kevin and likes spending time with him, but she wants to take things slow and steady, she’s very sensible and grounded.”
They continue, “Kevin being who he is has pushed back and tried to demand she do it his way but she’s very clear that if he wants her, he has to play by her rules. It’s a whole new ballgame for him and he’s really having a hard time adjusting. But odds are he’ll come around because he really is crazy about her.
“He’s told friends that he’s never met anyone like her, she challenges him like no one else has and that’s exciting, if he had his way he’d marry her tomorrow but he’ll have to wait until she’s ready.”
But in the meantime, it appears Kevin is filling his loneliness void with a brand new puppy. The actor shared adorable snaps of the new family member last week. He captioned the post, “Newest addition to the family. I’m already in love with this special guy.”
Meanwhile, in September, Kevin and ex wife Christine – who share three children Cayden, 16; Hayes, 14, and Grace, 13 – finally settled their divorce after 16 years of marriage, with Kevin’s representative confirming the former couple had come to a mutual agreement. During divorce proceedings, the former couple fought over a disagreement over child support and accusations that handbag designer Christine cleared out their home of valuables before she moved out.
They settled on Christine receiving around £50,000 a month for the children and £1.2million from his rumoured £320 million fortune, as per the conditions of their pre nuptial agreement. Kevin’s first wife, Cindy Silva, got a £64 million payout after they split in 1994.
The insider says Christine has no sympathy for Kevin’s latest romance hitting a rough patch.
“Christine has a lot of spies in Kevin’s world, she gets the lowdown on what’s going on and the fact this is hitting difficulties already must be music to her ears. She’s so annoyed at how everyone made her this wicked witch type character and it’s been a real challenge staying positive and not letting all that resentment get her down.
“If Kevin’s rebound’s struggling then that’s karma biting him in the butt, as far as she’s concerned.”