Rumours that Salman Rushdie's marriage to model and 'Top Chef' host Padma Lakshmi is in trouble gathered storm after she was spotted partying with another man.
While Rushdie was busy being knighted by Queen Elizabeth II last week, his much younger wife was spotted partying till the wee hours at the Rose Bar at the Gramercy Park Hotel with a well-known chef, who also happens to be married.
A source revealed that the two looked 'very interested' in each other and were oblivious to the world around them.
"They seemed to be quite interested in what each other had to say. They were oblivious to the people around them," the New York Post quoted the source, as saying.
A friend of the model however said that the two are 'just friends'.
"(They) are just friends - and like any marriage, she and Salman have their ups and downs," the pal said.
A rep for Lakshmi declined to comment on the reports.
