Josh Holloway and his wife, Yessica Kumala, have been married since 2004
![Actor Josh Holloway and wife Yessica Kumala attend the "Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol" U.S. premiere at the Ziegfeld Theatre on December 19, 2011 in New York City.](https://people.com/thmb/bYarhO4xUB5N6Py7XTSbLlqXcfQ=/1500x0/filters:no_upscale():max_bytes(150000):strip_icc():focal(999x0:1001x2):format(webp)/JoshHollowayYessicaKumalaMAIN-ee498e4df91243c9967a0928463a554f.jpg)
Josh Holloway may be well-known for his roles on TV, but he prefers to keep his marriage with his wife, Yessica Kumala, on the private side.
The Lost alum first met Kumala in 1999 at a bar, and they married five years later in October 2004. Outside of his acting career, Holloway keeps busy raising daughter Java and son Hunter together with his wife.
Though the couple typically stays out of the spotlight, Holloway has opened up on occasion about being a husband and father, including his thoughts on being best friends with Kumala.
“You need someone you don’t always have to be romantic with,” the actor told Women’s Health in 2017. “My wife and I have been together for 18 years, so sometimes we’re like, ‘Let’s just be friends right now.’ It takes the pressure off.”
He also proudly told the outlet that he’s a “really good dad,” adding, “I’m completely in love with my children and I participate in their lives on every level.”
So who is Josh Holloway’s wife? Here’s everything to know about Yessica Kumala and her relationship with the actor.
She met Holloway at a bar
![Josh Holloway and wife Yessica during Entertainment Weekly Magazine 3rd Annual Pre-Emmy Party - Arrivals at The Cabana Club in Los Angeles, California.](https://people.com/thmb/Wh66swacOUbIKhArK895Pe6Q9aU=/4000x0/filters:no_upscale():max_bytes(150000):strip_icc():focal(975x0:977x2):format(webp)/JoshHollowayYessicaKumala1-f507055e1d194b23b0975588eaf21703.jpg)
Holloway was at the Sunset Room in Los Angeles in 1999 when he saw Kumala for the first time.
“We met at a bar and I was going over to hit on her friends — they were hot,” the Yellowstone actor recalled during an appearance on the daytime show Harry in 2017. “I didn’t see her, she was turned around.”
“And then I got right to them, and then I got slapped on the shoulder and she looked me up and down and said, ‘Give me your number before you leave,’ and left with her martini. And I was like, ‘Well, who was that?’ ” he told host Harry Connick Jr.
Holloway explained that he continued to hang out with friends during the night out, but it wasn’t long before Kumala approached him again.
“And then again somebody slaps me on the shoulder, I look and she’s got her cellphone and she goes ‘What’s your number?’ and ‘What’s your name?’ and I go ‘What’s your number?’ and she goes ‘I don’t give it out’ and left again.”
It wasn’t until years later when Holloway was doing an interview on “a talk show after Lost” that he discovered his now-wife didn’t even learn his name when they first crossed paths. Instead, “she put ‘Sunset 4’ [in her phone] because I was the fourth number she got that night at the Sunset Room,” Holloway said.
She married Holloway in 2004
![Josh Holloway and Yessica Holloway in Hollywood, California.](https://people.com/thmb/lMQsBoc_CEzPnSW2knSs6ohVaRo=/4000x0/filters:no_upscale():max_bytes(150000):strip_icc():focal(999x0:1001x2):format(webp)/JoshHollowayYessicaKumala4-e2a2b7b768d84b578738ad5a7131f3f1.jpg)
Two weeks after the pilot of Lost premiered, Holloway and Kumala tied the knot on Oct. 1, 2004.
“Twenty years married. wow. happy anniversary baby, I love you,” Holloway wrote on Instagram in honor of their 20th wedding anniversary in October 2024.
She shares two children with Holloway
![Josh Holloway and Yessica Kumala with their daughter.](https://people.com/thmb/JFO-T9zwZdvs_0W-vEU8tBURsP8=/4000x0/filters:no_upscale():max_bytes(150000):strip_icc():focal(539x0:541x2):format(webp)/JoshHollowayYessicaKumala2-cac423cf35d24fc783bb1b30bf0271e3.jpg)
In December 2008, Holloway revealed that he and Kumala were expecting their first child together. The couple welcomed daughter Java Kumala on April 9, 2009, in Oahu, Hawaii.
“Dad and mom are absolutely thrilled. Everyone’s happy and healthy,” a source close to the actor shared after Java’s arrival.
When Java was 10 months old, Holloway told PEOPLE how much becoming a dad had energized him. “It’s made me hungry, and so joyous about life in general. I feel a responsibility to be a better human being. To be her hero. I mean, I gotta be. I will be.”
He also added that he changed diapers “all the time” and was “super fast” at it. He continued, “I bathe her, I do everything.”
In November 2013, the actor confirmed he and Kumala were expecting their second child together.
When asked by Entertainment Tonight what his feelings were on being considered a sex symbol, Holloway responded, “That’s funny because I’m a family man. I’ve got a 4½-year-old daughter and another one on the way — pretty excited about that.”
Holloway knew the sex of the baby during his wife’s pregnancy, but they decided to keep it a secret from the public.
“Yes, we know. It’s going to be a human!” he joked to PEOPLE during the Television Critics Association winter press tour in January 2014.
“I’m not allowed to tell or else I will be under the doghouse [rather than in it],” he added.
Hunter Lee joined the family on January 27, 2014, but the actor did not confirm his son’s birth until March of that year.
The actor revealed to E! News, “Yes, we have!” He added, “Six-week-old boy, Hunter Lee Holloway.”
They tend to be a private couple
![Josh Holloway and Yessica Kumala attend InStyle & WARNER BROS. Post GOLDEN GLOBE PARTY at Oasis Court at The Beverly Hilton on January 15, 2007 in Los Angeles, CA.](https://people.com/thmb/fRFcTsb3PB8HFPvXuyYHoTIzo0w=/4000x0/filters:no_upscale():max_bytes(150000):strip_icc():focal(1199x0:1201x2):format(webp)/JoshHollowayYessicaKumala3-408ef209362a440f9677fb000c074eac.jpg)
Holloway and Kumala have mostly kept their relationship private, and little is known about Kumala, who does not have any public social media profiles.
Kumala has only joined her husband for a few red carpets over the years, including the Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol premiere in 2011 and the 12th Annual Screen Actors Guild Awards in 2006.
Despite the couple not attending many public events together, Holloway typically gives shout-outs to his wife on his Instagram for Mother’s Day and her birthday.
“Sometime in our first years together I gifted you a gym membership. you laughed, and said, ‘why would I waste my time?’ I think you went in for a smoothie once that year, so my feelings didn’t get hurt,” he wrote in a post to celebrate her birthday in September 2022.
Holloway added, “Now you love it, and crush it everyday. proud of you lil beast. you look amazing… lucky me. happy birthday, my love. @yessicaholloway.”