Diane Sterling

Diane Sterling (previously Gibbs and Fornell) was a woman who was the ex-wife of former NCIS Special Agent Leroy Jethro Gibbs, former FBI Special Agent Tobias Fornell, and Victor Sterling, as well as the mother of Emily Fornell.

In addition to that, Diane was also a criminal investigator with the Internal Revenue Service (IRS).

Biography

Pre-Series

Prior to the start of the series, she was formerly married to Gibbs and later Fornell, who she had a daughter with. However, their jobs and her brash behavior led to divorces. She later married for the third time, it also ending in divorce.

NCIS Season 4

She is seen from afar when Gibbs waited for Fornell, when Fornell dropped off his daughter at Diane's house.

NCIS Season 9

In Devil's Triangle (episode), when her new husband, Victor, goes missing, she involves Gibbs and Fornell because she believes something is wrong. He becomes the prime suspect when they find security footage showing him stealing a virus and they found out he has a lot of money in a Cayman account. It is later revealed that he was used and framed and he is proven innocent. Gibbs and his team along with Fornell manages to track down the people responsible and prevent a major terrorist attack. It is revealed that Diane had cheated on Fornell with Victor.

At the end of the episode she confesses that she never loved Fornell, and that she knew Gibbs never could love anyone like he loved his first wife, Shannon. She also confesses that Gibbs is "her Shannon", meaning that Gibbs was her first and last love.

NCIS Season 10

In Devil's Trifecta (episode), when Fornell shot and killed a bouncer that tried to kill him, he and Gibbs come across Diane at the bouncer's workplace, where she was trying to buy the bar.

When evidence of her involvement come to life, they bring her into NCIS, where DiNozzo tries to interrogate her while Gibbs and Fornell hid in the observation room before Vance arrived, believing the former was in the room, until Diane pointed it out before storming out of the interrogation room. In Vance's office, Diane reveals she is an IRS agent, surprising the two, and is now part of their joint investigation. Putting her in protective custody, McGee was assigned to protect her, where she revealed that she and Victor were having problems, which eventually led to the two falling asleep on the couch, which is discovered by an amused Gibbs before Fornell showed up, expressing "Holy Fourth of July weenie roast! What the hell am I looking at?!"

NCIS Season 11

After Gibbs shot Fornell in the ass in Past, Present, and Future (episode), Diane had to act as his caretaker. During that time, she and Victor ended up getting a divorce and she started dating a man named Eddie Macklin. However, during their time together, Diane started to have feelings for Fornell again.

In Devil's Triad (episode), Gibbs and DiNozzo barge into her hotel room, where they were surprised to see her and Fornell before she revealed her divorcing Victor and had just messaged Eddie to break up with him while Fornell was in the bathroom.

NCIS Season 12

In Check (episode), Diane shows up at Gibbs' crime scene, along with another ex-wife of Gibbs, Rebecca Chase, before they were forced to leave. The following morning, as they were about to search on victims' records, Diane comes across McGee staring at Gibbs and Rebecca on the couch, reminiscing he and McGee's moment with Diane's shocked reaction waking the two up.

Later that day, Diane calls Gibbs to a rooftop car park, where upon meeting him, she claimed he called her. Realizing it is a trap by Sergei Mishnev, Gibbs tries to escort Diane to safety, only for Sergei to shoot her from a long range, similar to how Caitlin Todd was killed by Sergei's half-brother, Ari Haswari.

NCIS Season 16

In Daughters (episode), Diane's ghost appears to Gibbs, haunting and reprimanding him for not investigating Emily's overdose, demanding he'd get his head in the game.

Personality

She has a fiery personality and is very direct, seeming to be in a constant state of anger that she mainly directs at her ex-husbands and most current husband. She is shown to be very demanding and highly critical of others, appearing to think they cannot do things to the level she expects. While she tries to keep up certain appearances or things in her life secret from others, she feels the need to know what she wants from anyone she chooses. During a particular moment in Devil's Trifecta (episode), she opened up to Ziva about having married too young and not getting to have "wild and crazy times with friends".

Physical Appearance

Her appearance drastically changed from Season 4 to Season 9.

Trivia

• Diane's death was essentially a replica of Cait Todd's death after Sergei Mishnev was mimicking the deaths of the people closest to Leroy Gibbs.
  • This also included Mike Franks & Jenny Shepard.

Appearances

For a more detailed list, see Diane Sterling/List of Appearances.