Mariah Carey was spotted walking "hand-in-hand" with her backup dancer Bryan Tanaka.

Mariah Carey

Mariah Carey

The 46-year-old star, who recently split from her former fiancé James Packer, and the 33-year-old hunk have fuelled speculation they are getting closer after they were seen walking into Airbnb's Open Spotlight event in Los Angeles on Saturday (19.11.16) with their hands together.

A witness told the New York Post's Page Six column: "It looked like they're legit dating."

Mariah is also said to have been spotted "feeding" Bryan when they spent time together alongside the superstar singer's manager Stella Bulochnikov and kids at LA spot Catch.

A source told the publication: "Bryan had his arm around Mariah all night. She fed him dessert."

Bryan is said to have been helping Mariah - who has five-year-old twins Moroccan and Monroe with her ex-husband Nick Cannon - through her split from James.

An insider recently said: "After all she's been through, she's like, 'I'll do what I want.' She's enjoying the attention from Bryan."

The dancer recently featured in a trailer for Mariah's new reality TV show, 'Mariah's World', but there was no sign of James in the preview for the E! docu-series, leading to claims he has been completely removed from the show.

An Australian site said: "Packer was supposed to appear in the first six episodes, but his team has been demanding that the network remove him."

Another insider recently told a different publication: "[James] is demanding that E! and Carey remove him from all footage of 'Mariah's World'.

"He wants E! to reopen all the footage they got of him and edit him out of the show.'

"This poses a threat to the much-hyped docuseries as the bulk of the show is them planning a wedding."