Kate Gosselin has long been rumored to be banging her “bodyguard” Steve Neild. The rumors have been persistently following them ever since the Gosselin’s marriage imploded publicly, as Steve travels with Kate almost everywhere. Kate also spent last Thanksgiving with Steve… and his wife. And earlier this summer, there was a funny story about how Steve “encouraged” Kate to get her boobs done. Like he had a strong opinion about it.

Anyway, I’ve always believed that they were hitting it. And now the veil is gradually being lifted. Us Weekly has an interesting story in this week’s issue about Kate and Steve – according to their sources, “during a recent family vacation to Bald Head Island in North Carolina, witnesses say that the two strolled on the beach each night.” One witness says: “They looked at each other like they were an item.” Sources also say that Steve is very close to the kids, and that he texts the kids every night and that he’s more of a “family member.”

CB also pointed me to this eyewitness account published at The Huffington Post a few weeks ago, and it’s about this same vacation to Bald Head Island. The account is very lengthy and detailed, and you can read it here. The relevant part is this:

Wednesday finally brought an off-camera beach outing. Kate had swapped the modest two-piece she’d had on for filming for a nude-colored sparkly string bikini. The only other adult present, a middle-aged, athletic man with a full head of gray hair, sat very close to her. “Steve, Steve!” the kids called as he splashed them from a bucket of water. I later identified him as Steve Neild, a longtime bodyguard and travel companion who is married and was rumored to have served as Kate’s boob job consultant last year.

I took a couple pictures with my phone and ended up catching Steve’s attention. He jogged over to my beach chair and asked in a stern British accent, “Would you mind not taking pictures of the children?” I didn’t point out I was more interested in snapping him and Kate touching legs. I agreed, and firmly, protectively, he said, “Erase those, now.” I knew he had no legal basis, but allowed him to bully me because I had already saved the halfway decent ones and I did not want to become his enemy with several days left in the week. In exchange, Steve asked if I would like a picture with Kate. It seemed like a routine offer meant to disarm citizen paparazzi.

“Sure,” I said, and we strolled over to Kate, who was staring into space, apparently unaware of the exchange. “I’m a big fan of the show,” I told her. I have never seen an episode of the show, but it seemed like the least sinister motivation to offer. Steve asked Kate to pose.

“Come now, get up!” he said.

“In a bikini?” she whined. Her skin was a deep orange, her long nails perfectly French manicured. She wore dangly silver earrings and multiple necklaces. She pulled on a long white cover-up, ignoring Steve’s repeated assurances that she looked “fantastic” in her bikini.

“One condition,” she told me. “You can’t post this on Facebook or anything. We’re anonymous here and we’d like to stay that way.”

I nodded, wondering how she equated anonymity with bringing a large crew to film her family vacation. Kate struck a red-carpet pose, hand on hip, facing into the wind (“My hair blows back this way,” she explained), and we awkwardly embraced as Steve fumbled with my iPhone.

[From Huffington Post]

Ooh, their legs were touching. Totally boning. I would love to know what his wife thinks.

Header: Kate and Steve in NYC on April 23, 2010. Credit: WENN.