Who is the 'Bianca' that Landon Donovan blew a kiss to?

U.S. hero blows kiss to ex-wife Bianca

Who is the 'Bianca' that Landon Donovan blew a kiss to?

By Ryan Bailey

Toward the end of Landon Donovan's emotive post-match tribute to the triumphant U.S. soccer team (above), the American star said "Hi, Bianca," and blew a kiss to the camera, which left casual observers wondering, just who is Bianca?

The woman in question is Donovan's ex-wife Bianca Kajlich (pronounced "kay-lick"), the 33-year-old actress whom he married on New Year's Eve 2006. She looks an awful lot like this.



Sitcom fans may recognize her as Jennifer from CBS' "Rules of Engagement". She has also been featured in "Dawson's Creek," the brilliant-sounding "Confessions of a Dog" and alongside Busta Rhymes in "Halloween Resurrection". (Interestingly, her screams in the latter were dubbed by another actress, as she is unable to scream.)

Despite having a solid enough domestic life to feature on an episode of "MTV Cribs," Bianca and Landon separated in December 2009, a few days shy of their three-year anniversary. So why would a sportsman pay tribute to his ex-wife after one of the most important moments of his career? After the game, Yahoo! Sports' Martin Rogers asked Donovan about the shoutout to his former belle, and he said:

    "I have carried her with me all through this tournament and she means lot to me. She is a very special person and she means a lot to me."

It appears that the separation was not only amicable, but beneficial to his career, as he recently explained:

    "I think every comment I got when I told people I was getting divorced was, 'I'm so sorry,' " said Donovan, speaking on Day 2 of the USA national team training camp. "It is not always the case that it has to be 'sorry.'

    "Sometimes you learn more from those moments than anything. For me that was certainly the case. It doesn't have to be something ugly or nasty. It can be helpful and you can grow from it. That is what we both took from it."

In an age where divorce is often messy, it's refreshing to see adults who can get along after a separation. They've even managed to arrange custody of their dogs without any sad puppy faces (I'm not sure who got to keep them in the end, but Donovan claimed they were one of the things he missed the most during his time with Bayern Munich).

It's obvious that the U.S. goalscoring hero is still fond of his former flame, but we wanted to know whether the kiss-blowing tribute is a sign of reconciliation. Shortly after the incident, Yahoo! Sports asked Donovan if love is in the air, and he smiled, winked and playfully said:

    "What is this, Access Hollywood!?"

New twist in World Cup hero's love life

USA’s Donovan reconciled in more ways than one

By Martin Rogers

IRENE, South Africa — Landon Donovan’s dramatic goal on Wednesday didn’t just keep the United States in the World Cup. It also may have paved the way for a reconciliation with his estranged actress wife.

Donovan and “Rules of Engagement” star Bianca Kajlich had an emotional telephone conversation in the early hours of Thursday morning after he had blown her an on-camera kiss just moments after scoring the winner against Algeria.

And despite publicly baring his soul about “getting divorced” on several occasions over the past few months, Donovan told Yahoo! Sports on Thursday that the marriage is not over.

“We are not officially divorced,” he said. “We spoke last night; it was nice.”

The Los Angeles Galaxy star and Kajlich married in 2006 and split last year after he had returned from a loan spell with German side Bayern Munich.

The 28-year-old Donovan has always insisted that, despite the problems which caused the breakup, what he had learned from Kajlich helped him deal with the disappointment following the 2006 World Cup — when he failed to live up to his potential and grow as a person and a player.

“I think every comment I got when I told people I was getting divorced was, ‘I’m so sorry,’ ” Donovan said during the team’s pre-World Cup training camp in Princeton. “It is not always the case that it has to be ‘sorry.’

“Sometimes you learn more from those moments than anything. For me, that was certainly the case. It doesn’t have to be something ugly or nasty. It can be helpful and you can grow from it. That is what we both took from it.”

Wednesday’s 1-0 U.S. victory over Algeria — thanks to Donovan’s goal deep into injury time — set up a knockout-stage clash with Ghana on Saturday in Rustenburg.

Donovan looked content and comfortable when asked about Kajlich by Yahoo! Sports on Thursday, and wore the look of a man who’d just experienced a perfect few hours.

The World Cup has gone to plan so far. Now his private life seems to be following suit.

“It would surprise no one if Landon and Bianca were back together very soon,” said a friend of Kajlich who speaks with her on a regular basis. “They have remained in contact and are very close to one another.”

The person, who asked for anonymity while not wanting to speak publicly about the private life of a friend, said Donovan’s gesture after the game was meaningful: “The fact that Landon wanted to share his special moment with her is very significant.”