Nicole’s secret : Eric’s better than Crowe

It looks like famous singleton Nicole Kidman may have found a bloke again. The Aussie Oscar winner has been on a string of secret dates with multimillionaire New Zealand businessman Eric Watson.

The beautiful leading lady met Eric in Los Angeles, where she is filming her latest movie, Bewitched . The pair have become close and pals say it is the start of something much bigger.

They event went public to watch the boxing title fight between Oscar De La Hoya and Bernard Hopkins at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas.

The pair laughed and joked and seemed oblivious to the thousands of spectators around them. Eric, one of the richest men in his home country, famously hit the headlines in November 2002, when he was involved in a massive brawl in posh London restaurant Zuma with Nicole’s pal Russell Crowe.

But handsome Eric, who owns the Warriors rugby league club in Auckland, now only has love on his mind. A friend of the pair said: “It’s early days and they are both taking things very easily. But let’s just say they are great pals. They’ve been out on a few dates and formed a very close bond. They get on incredibly well. Let’s hope Nicole has at last found something meaningful.”

The actress has been linked to a number of men since splitting with om Cruise in 2001, but none of her relationships have lasted. She has dated rocker Lenny Kravitz and Spider-Man actor obey Maguire and was rumoured to be going out with rapper QTIP.

Eric, who now lives in London, split from his wife Nicky, a former underwear model, when she was linked with another man. He is said to be worth $99 million after making his money from office supplies.