Richard Gere has split from Top Chef star Padma Lakshmi after six months of relationship.
According to reports, the stars have called time on their romance because they were too busy with their respective careers.
A source added to the New York Post newspaper’s Page Six column: “They decided they would be better as friends.”
Richard Gere, 65, who split from Carey Lowell after 11 years of marriage last September, has been busy filming Time Out of Mind in New York, in which he plays a homeless man.
Richard Gere has split from Padma Lakshmi after six months of relationship
Last week, the actor joked of filming: “What probably really helped was I was right in the middle of a divorce, so the emotions were right on the surface.”
Meanwhile, Padma Lakshmi, 44, was filming a new season of Top Chef in Boston over the summer and then went travelling. The couple were first romantically linked in April but stayed low key and were not spotted together very often.
Richard Gere and Carey Lowell – who have 14-year-old son Homer together – never officially confirmed they were separating but were said to have been living apart for some time before their split.
He was also previously married to Cindy Crawford for four years until 1995.
Former model Padma Lakshmi was previously married to author Salman Rushdie for three years until 2007 and dated billionaire Teddy Forstmann until he died of brain cancer in 2011 at the age of 71.
Padma Lakshmi has a three-year-old daughter, Krishna, with Adam Dell.
Richard Gere will appear in The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel 2, it has been announced.
It had been rumored last October that Richard Gere, 64, had been approached to star in the movie.
The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel 2 production has begun in India with John Madden returning to direct.
The sequel will see Dev Patel’s character Sonny and hotel co-manager Muriel (played by Maggie Smith) continue with their business as Sonny juggles his plans for expansion and an impending marriage.
With the Best Exotic Marigold Hotel for the Elderly and Beautiful thriving, it only has a single remaining vacancy, which poses a problem for new arrivals Guy – played by Richard Gere – and Lavinia – played by Tamsin Greig.
Richard Gere will appear in The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel 2
“We’re thrilled to reunite our creative and delightful Marigold Hotel family along with some intriguing new <<guests>>,” Claudia Lewis, Fox Searchlight Pictures president of production, said.
“With John Madden’s direction and Ol Parker’s original screenplay, we look forward to further exploring our characters’ rich stories and triumphs.”
John Madden added: “This film presented us with an irresistible opportunity: to continue a story we realized we had only just begun.
“Not to tell the same story again, but to pursue where the lives of these very different characters lead, with an audience which already holds them in great affection.”
The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel earned more than $135 million at the box office worldwide on a production budget of $10 million.
The film was also nominated for a best British film BAFTA and best picture Golden Globe, while Judi Dench was also recognized for her role in as hotel resident Evelyn.
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Richard Gere and Carey Lowell have separated and are planning to file for divorce, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
Richard Gere married Carey Lowell in 2002.
A source close to the couple told Page Six the couple has “been spending time apart for quite some time”.
Richard Gere and Carey Lowell have separated and are planning to file for divorce
Another source told Page Six Richard Gere, 64, and Carey Lowell, 52, have different lifestyles: “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.”
Richard Gere was previously married to supermodel Cindy Crawford. Carey Lowell, meanwhile, was previously married to actor Griffin Dunne.
Carey Lowell and Richard Gere have a 13-year-old son, Homer.
Richard Gere’s close attention to an attractive blonde at restaurant is reported to have led to a confrontation with her angry husband.
Richard Gere, 63, was told to stay away from the woman after he reportedly left his table to chat to her.
The actor was told: “Get the f*** out of here” after he made a beeline for the woman, according to the New York Post.
A source told the New York Post that Richard Gere, who is married to actress Carey Lowell, had been staring at the woman while they both dined at the Nick and Toni’s restaurant in fashionable beachside resort of East Hampton, on Long Island in New York.
Richard Gere was at the restaurant celebrating with his agents after picking up a lifetime achievement award at the Hampton’s International Film Festival.
Over dinner the unnamed “gorgeous blonde” is said to have caught Richard Gere’s eye.
“He kept staring at this woman. Her husband seemed agitated by it,” a source told the Post.
“He approached the other table. He didn’t acknowledge anyone around her. He was leaning in and trying to talk to her, leaning into her ear.”
The woman was apparently confused about Richard Gere’s close attention, leading to her husband stepping in and warning the actor to leave.
Richard Gere is said to have ignored the shouted threat, and continued to talk to the woman before making his exit.
The husband is said to have followed Richard Gere outside to make sure that he left the restaurant where other A-list celebrities including actress Meryl Streep, Alec Baldwin and Gwyneth Paltrow’s mother Blythe Danner were dining.
A spokesman for Richard Gere claimed the incident had been misinterpreted.
“Reality is, he was at a table with his agents and their wives. On his way out, he stopped to say hi to the people at that table, and joked with the people briefly before leaving,” said his spokesman.
Richard Gere shot to fame in American Gigolo and cemented his status as a Hollywood heartthrob playing a naval pilot in An Officer and a Gentleman.
In recent years he is best known for his role in the romantic drama Pretty Woman opposite Julia Roberts.
He has generated talk of an Oscar for his portrayal of a Wall St. financier in his latest film Arbitrage.
Richard Gere was previously married to supermodel Cindy Crawford and wed Carey Lowell, a former Bond girl, in 2002.
