14 DAY TRIAL // Silver fox Richard Gere, the man that broke all women's hearts with his role opposite Julia Roberts in “Pretty Woman,” is currently at the heart of a very saucy scandal. The 64-year-old actor is believed to be secretly dating Top Chef host Padma Lakshmi while is he going through a divorce with his wife of 11 years, Carey Lowell.
The news is reported by Us Weekly who claims to have it on good authority that the romance is real, according to an insider. “It started very recently and quietly,” says a close source.
“It's very new. I wouldn't even go as far as calling them a couple. They are dating. It's the first time Padma has dated anyone since Teddy [Forstmann], and it's something she's been approaching very, very delicately. They just getting to know each other. They're just having fun,” adds the same source.
Lakshmi is 43 and she lives in New York with her 3-year-old daughter Krishna with ex Adam Dell. Both her and Gere have been married before, but in Richard's case it's a longer list. Before he married Lowell, 52, Gere was previously married to supermodel Cindy Crawford for four years. The couple split in 1995.
Lakshmi, who is a former model and currently a cooking reality show host, as well as cooking book author, was previously married to author Salman Rushdie for three years, but they divorced in 2007. She also dated billionaire Teddy Forstmann until his death of brain cancer in 2011.
The fact that both of them already have children doesn't seem to stand in the way of their relationship. Richard Gere has a son, Homer, who is 14, from his marriage to Carey Lowell and Padma Lakshmi is the mother of a 3-year-old daughter Krishna with Adam Dell.
Richard Gere is currently in New York to work on his latest movie “Time Out of Mind” in which he plays the role of a homeless man trying to reconnect with his daughter with whom he has grown apart over the years.
The usually dapper leading man was spotted looking very scruffy as a part of his new role and even urinating in the street during a scene in the movie.
When confronted by several news agencies to comment on the matter, both Gere and Lakshmi's reps have denied to comment, which often serves as a confirmation of the romance. What's your opinion, do you think they make a cute couple or not?