Spade Not Dating Lakshmi

Funnyman David Spade is laughing off rumours he's dating new mum Padma Lakshmi after the pair was spotted enjoying a dinner date.

The Joe Dirt star sparked reports of a romance with Salman Rushdie's ex-wife after dining out in Los Angeles together last week (ends18Jun10) - but he insists they are just friends.

He says, "No, (we're not dating). I met her last year. She was just in town so I was like, 'Let's have dinner'."

Lakshmi, who welcomed baby girl Krishna in February (10), recently went public with her love for U.S. billionaire Teddy Forstmann at a charity event in New York, when she thanked him for his longtime support and declared him as "the person that I love".

The Indian-born model, actress and TV chef, who divorced Rushdie in 2007, has never revealed the identity of her child's father.