Actor Richard Gere and Padma Lakshmi, a former model and current host of Bravo's Top Chef, are reportedly dating.

Richard Gere, Padma Lakshmi Dating

Gere, 64, and Lakshmi, 43, are apparently taking things slowly and are in the early stages of a relationship.

"They're just getting to know each other," a source told People magazine. "They're just dating. This is the first person she's dated since Teddy [Forstmann] passed away and she's just putting a toe in the water of the dating world again. They're not sure where it's going yet."

Gere divorced from his wife Carey Lowell, with whom he has 14-year-old son Homer, last year after 11 years of marriage and 18 years of being together. The cause for the split was reportedly their differing lifestyle preferences, as the Arbitrage actor, a Buddhist, prefers a quiet life, while Lowell enjoys a more public life of social gatherings.

“They have a place in Bedford [N.Y.], and he likes it because it’s quiet and he likes the solitude. She likes being in North Haven in the limelight,” a source told Page Six at the time.

Lakshmi's last long-term relationship was with billionaire Teddy Forstmann, who died of brain cancer in 2011. She was previously married to novelist Salman Rushdie. Lakshmi has a 3-year-old daughter named Krishna from her relationship with venture capitalist Adam Dell.

– Chelsea Regan