Who Is Justin Verlander’s Wife? All About Kate Upton and Their Kids

• Justin Verlander’s wife is model and actress Kate Upton, 34. They married in Italy in November 2017, three days after he won his first World Series.
• They have two kids: Genevieve, 7, who ran to the mound to take him out of his final start on Saturday, and Bellamy, 1.
• Tigers manager A.J. Hinch said the mound visit was his and Upton’s idea. Verlander said it “hit me like a ton of bricks.”

She helped plan the goodbye. Kate Upton, the wife of Justin Verlander, was in on the surprise that ended his 21-season career on Saturday, Sept. 26, at Comerica Park: their 7-year-old daughter, Genevieve, sprinting to the mound to take him out of the game.

After the Detroit Tigers’ 4-3 walk-off win over the Pittsburgh Pirates, manager A.J. Hinch said the idea was his and Upton’s. Upton, holding their 1-year-old son, Bellamy, met Verlander and Genevieve on the warning track for a family hug. Here’s who she is and how they got here.

Who is Kate Upton?

Upton was born in St. Joseph, Michigan, on June 10, 1992, and grew up in Melbourne, Florida. She became a household name on the cover of the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue, which she landed in 2012, 2013 and 2017.

Acting followed: Tower Heist in 2011, The Three Stooges in 2012 and The Other Woman in 2014, opposite Cameron Diaz and Leslie Mann. In 2024 she hosted Dress My Tour, a Hulu competition in which 11 designers made stage looks for music stars like Paula Abdul and Toni Braxton, for a $100,000 prize.

She has also built businesses around fitness. In 2018 she started Strong4Me, a 12-week at-home workout program, with her trainer, Ben Bruno. In 2021 came Found Active, a line of skin care and supplements that launched at $11 to $23 a product.

How did Kate Upton and Justin Verlander meet?

On a commercial set in 2012. Verlander, then the Tigers’ ace and the cover athlete of the video game MLB 2K12, shot an ad for the game, and Upton was cast in it. Dating rumors started in 2013. The couple split briefly that year and were back together in 2014.

They got engaged in 2016 and married on Nov. 4, 2017, at Rosewood Castiglion del Bosco, a resort in Tuscany. The timing was tight: Verlander had been traded from Detroit to the Houston Astros on Aug. 31 and won the World Series with them on Nov. 1, three days before the wedding.

What did Kate Upton tweet when Verlander lost the Cy Young?

In November 2016, Boston’s Rick Porcello won the American League Cy Young Award by 137 points to 132, even though Verlander got 14 first-place votes to Porcello’s eight. Two voters had left Verlander off their ballots entirely. Upton took it to Twitter within minutes.

“Hey @MLB I thought I was the only person allowed to f— @JustinVerlander ?!” she wrote, asking which two writers had skipped him. In another, addressed to Porcello, she wrote “you didn’t win,” with the hashtag #ByeFelicia.

The award goes by total points, not first-place votes, and Porcello was the only pitcher named on all 30 ballots.

Verlander told the story on Mookie Betts’ podcast, On Base with Mookie Betts, on Sept. 22. He was doing a live interview on MLB Network with the other two finalists when the result came out. “As soon as it came out, she was firing,” he said.

“She’s like, ‘You’re not going to like it.’ And sure enough, she had fired off a bunch of stuff, and she had another one preloaded, ready to go,” he said. “And I’m like, ‘Kate, stop!'”

He went on to win the award in 2019 and 2022, both with Houston, to go with his 2011 win in Detroit.

Do Kate Upton and Justin Verlander have kids?

Two. Their daughter, Genevieve Upton Verlander, was born on Nov. 7, 2018. Upton announced it with a photo captioned only “Genevieve Upton Verlander 💗 11.7.18.” On Sept. 25, the night before his last start, Genevieve threw the ceremonial first pitch at Comerica Park, to her dad.

Their son, Bellamy Brooks Verlander, was born on June 19, 2025, while Verlander was pitching for the San Francisco Giants; Upton’s rep confirmed the birth. After that season, Verlander signed a one-year deal to finish his career where it started, in Detroit.

What did Verlander say about Kate when he retired?

He announced his retirement in a letter he posted on July 8, after being chosen for his 10th All-Star Game. The only person it names is his wife.

To my family, especially my wife Kate, thank you for standing beside me through every season, every rehab, and every high and low. I couldn’t have done this without you.

Justin Verlander, in his retirement letter on X, July 8, 2026

A week later, the family walked the All-Star red carpet together in Philadelphia. The final start came on Saturday: 5⅓ innings, six strikeouts and 91 pitches, with the Tigers down 2-0 when Hinch came out to end his day and Genevieve sprinted in from the first-base side.

“That was amazing. I was sobbing and had to make sure that she understood I was happy,” Verlander said after the game. “Walking off the field with them to end my career is as good as I could have dreamed.” Eduardo Valencia’s two-run homer in the ninth kept him from taking the loss.

Verlander, 43, finishes 266-159 with a 3.33 ERA and 3,560 strikeouts, eighth all-time, along with two World Series rings, three Cy Youngs and the 2011 MVP. In the video below, he describes the moment Genevieve reached him.

More athletes and their partners: Brittany Mahomes apologized for “a lot of bad words” at a Chiefs game, Taylor Swift pointed to her ring from a Chiefs suite, and her and Travis Kelce’s fence request was turned down in Ohio. More in Celebrities.

— Bruno Monteiro

Sources: Associated Press, “Verlander leaves final start of 21-year career as 7-year-old daughter sprints to the mound for hug” by Dave Hogg (Sept. 26, 2026); CBS Sports, by Mike Axisa (Sept. 26, 2026); MLive, by Evan Woodbery (Sept. 26, 2026); The Big Lead, by Josh Sanchez (Sept. 26, 2026); On Base with Mookie Betts, Bleacher Report (Sept. 22, 2026), as quoted by the New York Post (Sept. 23, 2026); ABC News, by Yi-Jin Yu, on Bellamy’s birth (June 23, 2025); Justin Verlander’s retirement letter on X (July 8, 2026); Kate Upton on Instagram (Nov. 2018) and X (Nov. 16, 2016; Feb. 28, 2022); Detroit Tigers on X (Sept. 26-27, 2026); Hulu, Dress My Tour; 2016 BBWAA American League Cy Young Award voting.