**JFK’s Shocking Advice to Brother Ted on His Wedding Day Revealed Following Joan Kennedy’s Passing**
*Published: October 8, 2025, 4:00 p.m. ET*
John F. Kennedy had some unexpected advice for his younger brother, Ted Kennedy, on the day he was set to marry his bride, Joan Bennett Kennedy. RadarOnline.com can now reveal that JFK jokingly told Ted to “remember to cheat” — a comment resurfacing in the wake of Joan’s recent death at the age of 89.
### What Did Joan Kennedy Hear JFK Tell Ted?
On Ted’s wedding day, JFK made the offhand remark suggesting he consider being unfaithful. This was meant as a private joke between siblings. However, Joan is believed to have overheard the comment while watching a video of the wedding, unaware that the brothers were wired with microphones capturing their conversation.
According to Adam Clymer’s biography, *Edward M. Kennedy: A Biography*, the future president had apparently forgotten about the microphones recording the 1958 ceremony. This unguarded moment shed light on the complex family dynamics present that day.
### Joan’s Hesitation and Family Pressure
Joan reportedly had reservations about marrying Ted. She and her father, Joe Bennett, had even canceled the wedding for a full year because Joan “didn’t have the feeling I wanted to marry him.”
Still, as Clymer notes, Joe “blew up and bullied everyone into following through as planned,” forcing the wedding day to move forward despite Joan’s doubts.
### Ted’s Turbulent Marriage and Second Wife’s Influence
From the start, Joan seemed to sense the marriage was headed for trouble. The couple eventually divorced in 1982, with Ted’s drinking problems and alleged womanizing cited as major factors.
Joan chose not to remarry, but Ted found a second chance in 1992 when he married Victoria Reggie. An insider shared, “Vicki saved Ted’s life. They fell in love, and she brought him back from the brink and got him to stop drinking. He had to stop or Vicki would have left him.”
Victoria also helped Ted cope with another devastating loss: the death of his nephew, JFK Jr., in 1999. A source revealed, “Vicki convinced Ted to see a psychiatrist, which he had never done in his life. When John died, Ted was crushed and wanted to die. Vicki was unfailing in her love, but Ted was so depressed. Finally, she told him to get help.”
The source continued, “Ted couldn’t go back to the Senate in this condition. He couldn’t even leave the house. So he agreed. Without Vicki, Ted never would have come back after this latest Kennedy tragedy. Her love has been one of his greatest blessings.”
Ted Kennedy passed away in 2009 at age 77 from a brain tumor. Now, 16 years later, his ex-wife Joan has also died.
### The Kennedy Tragedies Continue
Joan’s death was confirmed by Steve Kerrigan, chairman of the Massachusetts Democratic Party, who said she “passed away peacefully in her sleep” at her Boston home on October 8.
Her life was marked by personal pain beyond her troubled marriage. Two of her three children with Ted were diagnosed with cancer. Ted Kennedy Jr. was diagnosed with bone cancer in 1973, just before his 12th birthday. Despite undergoing chemotherapy, doctors had to amputate his right leg to save his life.
Joan’s eldest child and only daughter, Kara Kennedy, was diagnosed with lung cancer at age 42 in 2002. She underwent risky surgery to remove part of her lung. Although the surgery was successful, Kara tragically died of a heart attack at age 51 in 2011.
### The Kennedy Curse?
With Joan Kennedy’s passing and the hardships endured by her family, many reflect once again on the so-called “Kennedy curse” — a series of untimely deaths and misfortunes that have plagued the iconic family for decades.
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*Joan Bennett Kennedy’s life story is a somber chapter in the enduring saga of America’s most famous political family, marked by love, loss, and resilience.*
https://radaronline.com/p/jfk-told-brother-ted-to-cheat-on-wife-joan-wedding-video/