Charlotte York was known for being the most traditional of the four Sex and the City protagonists, and was always more focused on marriage than her girlfriends werre, leading her to tie the knot with the handsome but stuck-up Trey MacDougal (Kyle MacLachlan) and then find lasting domestic bliss with none other than her kindhearted divorce lawyer, Harry Goldenblatt (Evan Handler), who she remains married to in the Sex and the City reboot And Just Like That…
Given her iconic TV role, it might surprise you to learn that the actress who played Charlotte, Kristin Davis, is the only one of the four fabulous SATC ladies who has never married in real life. Here’s a look at Davis’ love life and what she’s said about her decision to stay unmarried and become a single mom in her 40s.
Who has Kristin Davis dated?
Davis, who recently launched the podcast, Are You a Charlotte?, has always kept her love life fairly private, but over the years she’s had a few high-profile relationships. In 2001, she dated Alec Baldwin—who just so happened to have been Sex and the City creator Darren Star’s original choice to play Mr. Big!
After breaking up with Baldwin, Davis dated Liev Schreiber.
Davis then had a relationship with Homeland star Damian Lewis.
In 2006, Davis was linked to basketball player Rick Fox, and in 2009, she dated fashion photographer Russell James.
In 2012, Davis dated West Wing creator Aaron Sorkin, and the couple was seen cozying up on the red carpet at the premiere of his show The Newsroom, but the relationship didn’t last.
Davis was also said to have dated Jeff Goldblum at one point, and there were rumors that she and Steve Martin were an item, which she later dispelled in an interview with Andy Cohen.
Kristin Davis’ thoughts on marriage: ‘It’s not my thing’
Given Davis’ Sex and the City role, there was often speculation about her love life, and many viewers assumed she was similar to Charlotte. This is decidedly not the case. In a 2023 interview on the podcast Best Friend Energy, she said that while she related to her character’s personality, their relationship philosophies were decidedly different.
Davis forthrightly told the podcast hosts, “I’m not married. I’ve never been married. It’s not my thing. I was never focused on it. It was never like a goal, let’s say.” She joked that when it came to Charlotte’s obsession with settling down, “That took some acting . . . It really did.” She did, however, love filming Charlotte’s first wedding, saying, “I’m not really a wedding girl but . . . Charlotte loved it, so I loved it.”
Davis has also said, “I do have friends who have stable marriages and I look at them and admire what they have, but I don’t necessarily think I’ve ever had that kind of relationship . . . I don’t know that I necessarily totally intended to [still be single], though I do remember being young and thinking, ‘Why are all these people getting married?’ But I’m an actress—I’ve never exactly been the status quo.”
The actress acknowledged how her decision not to marry went against her upbringing, saying, “[In my 20s], I thought I’d never get married. I guess I was right! I grew up in the South so all everyone talked about was marriage, but all I wanted was to move to New York and do theater. And in my 30s, I was busy doing [Sex and the City] so I just didn’t have time.” She also noted that, “I felt rebellious about it. When I was young I thought that marriage seemed like the patriarchy.”
Davis hasn’t been publicly linked to anyone recently, and in 2021, she coyly said, “I’m not not dating but I’m not actively dating,” and revealed that dating isn’t something she particularly enjoys. As she put it, “I’m not interested in the small talk, I find it boring. I just want to cut to the deep stuff, and they don’t always want to do that. And then . . . I’m just terrible at casual sex.”
Kristin Davis’ journey as a single mom
While she never married, Davis did become a mother. In 2011, at age 46, she adopted her daughter, Gemma Rose. In 2018, she adopted her son, Wilson. Funnily enough, Rose was the name of her daughter on Sex and the City, though she said she chose the name because she loved it and not because of her character. Davis keeps her kids out of the spotlight, though she has made TikTok videos about being a mom.
Davis called motherhood “something I have wanted for a very long time,” adding, “Having this wish come true is even more gratifying than I ever had imagined. I feel so blessed.”
@kristindavis Nobody tell him about the Legos!
Davis’ children are Black, and she’s spoken candidly about raising them in a culturally sensitive way, saying, “Because my children are African-American, I feel like it is my duty and my job to do as much research, as much work [and] build as many bridges as possible . . . I work at that every day, trying to figure out how I can make sure they have access to the Black community, that they’re part of it, that they’re not separated from it.”
Davis also admitted that Gemma has asked her if she’s ever going to find a boyfriend. Her response? “I say to my children that I’d have to find somebody that was good enough to be in their lives. And that’s true. I’m not going to let somebody be around them, or influence them, or be any kind of father figure unless they’re amazing. The bar is high.”
The actress may have taken a very different path from her most famous character, but it’s clear that she knows what she wants and has found joy in approaching motherhood in her own way.
