Actor Richard Gere and cookbook author Padma Lakshmi are allegedly an item. Gere has recently ended a relationship with his wife of 11 years, Carey Lowell, while Lakshmi was married to novelist Salman Rushdie between 2004-2007. She also has a daughter, Krishna Thea Lakshmi-Dell with venture capitalist Adam Dell, while Gere and Lowell have a fourteen year old son, Homer James Jigme.

Padma Lakshmi Richard GereRichard Gere and Padma Lakshmi have been romantically linked

But who is Gere's mysterious new love, Padma Lakshmi?

Lakshmi was born in India in 1970, although she spent her formative years between Chennai, India, and New York, where her mother lived. 
At 18 years old Lakshmi was ‘discovered’ sitting outside a cafe on a school trip in Madrid. She began an international modelling career, working with designers including Ralph Lauren, Gianni Versace, Roberto Cavalli and Alberta Ferretti. She became a favourite model of famous photographer Helmut Newton, who would highlight a scar on her arm, the result of a car accident in California when she was 14 years old.

Easy Exotic, her first published cookbook, was named Best First Book at the Gourmand World Cookbook Awards in 1999. Shortly after she began hosting her own cookery show on the Food Network, Padma’s Passport, on which she cooked a variety of vegetarian dishes.

Lakshmi speaks 5 languages, including English, Tamil, Italian, Spanish and Hindi, and in 1999 landed a role in Italian murder mystery Il figlio di Sandokan. She starred in a supporting role in Mariah Carey’s 2001 movie Glitter and appeared as Geeta in the 2005 The Mistress of Spices. Lakshmi has also starred in several television series, including Star Trek: Enterprise and The Ten Commandments. She had a cameo appearance in 2009 on award winning show 30 Rock.

Lakshmi was nominated for an Emmy for her hosting role on Top Chef, which went on to win an Emmy for Outstanding Reality-Competition Program in 2010.

After meeting Midnight’s Children author Salman Rushdie at a party in 1999, the pair married in 2004. Fury, Rushdie’s 2001 novel, is dedicated to Lakshmi, a book in which she was also the inspiration for a lead character. Rushdie was twenty three years older than Lakshmi, and the marriage didn’t last. The pair filed for divorce in 2007. Lakshmi had been involved in a relationship with IMG CEO Teddy Forstmann, until his death from a brain tumour in 2011.

Padma Lakshmi Richard GereRichard Gere has recently split from his wife of 11 years

Recent rumours regarding her relationship with Gere come just eight months after the actor’s split from his wife. A source told People magazine, “They’re just getting to know each other. They’re not sure where it’s going yet.”

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