Padma Lakshmi, Richard Gere break up

NEW YORK, Oct. 14 (UPI) -- Padma Lakshmi and Richard Gere have broken up.

The 44-year-old Top Chef host and 65-year-old actor started dating amid Gere's divorce from wife Carey Lowell, and were together for six months. Lakshmi and Gere kept their relationship extremely private, and never confirmed their status nor were photographed as a couple.

Lakshmi indirectly acknowledged the split by announcing she is single in a television interview. A source told Page Six the pair had both been busy with work, and "decided they would be better as friends."

Lakshmi was previously married to writer Salman Rushdie from 2004 to 2007, and has a 3-year-old daughter, Krishna Thea Lakshmi-Dell, from her relationship with Adam Dell. The television host was also involved with Teddy Forstmann until his death in 2011.

Gere and Lowell were married for 11 years, and have a 14-year-old son named Homer James Jigme Gere. The actor was previously married to model Cindy Crawford from 1991 to 1995. He will appear in The Second Best Exotic Marigold Hotel and Franny in 2015.