EXCLUSIVEThe truth behind Sofia Vergara and Lewis Hamilton's 'date' - one week after she 'manifests' a boyfriend

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Lewis Hamilton is no stranger to dating an older woman after close to a decade with Pussycat Dolls singer Nicole Scherzinger.

But the Formula 1 champion, 40, is not about to add Sofia Vergara, 52, to his list, despite claims the pair enjoyed a ‘date’ this week.

The actress and the sportsman were pictured smiling and talking as they dined out for lunch in New York City on Tuesday.

Observers claimed that the Modern Family actress hardly ate any of the food in front of her, as she was so engrossed in the table talk.

TMZ claimed the pair were ‘super flirty’ – but insiders have shut down the speculation, telling DailyMail.com that the outing was nothing more than a business meeting.

‘Sofia and Lewis had fun together, but it wasn't a date and they’re not dating,’ they said. ‘Lewis likes to flirt, but this was just a business meeting – not the start of a relationship.’

Sofia Vergara and Lewis Hamilton were pictured smiling and talking as they dined out for lunch in New York City on Tuesday, with their 'flirty' behaviour speaking dating rumours

Observers claimed that the Modern Family actress, 52, hardly ate any of the food in front of her, as she was so engrossed in the table talk

Colombian-born Vergara, who played the lead in Netflix crime drama Griselda, reportedly has no issues with being linked to the British sporting star.

‘She’s going to let the rumours continue,’ the insider added. ‘If people think she is dating all these young guys and all these well-established men, then great. It helps her brand.’

Hamilton is no stranger to dating an older woman having been in an on-off relationship with Scherzinger from 2007 until they finally called it quits in 2015.

And Vergara has previously romanced younger men, including her second husband Joe Manganiello, 48, and ex-fiancé Nick Loeb, 49.

Hamilton might not be her next love interest, but the Netflix star is manifesting ‘health, money [and] a boyfriend’ or ‘lover’ for the new year.

The actress made the admission during an interview with Access Hollywood last week when she was seen drinking from a shot glass.

It appears to confirm that she is single after a short romance with orthopaedic surgeon Justin Saliman.

It marked her first relationship since the collapse of her marriage to Magic Mike actor Manganiello in 2023.

Colombian-born Vergara, who played the lead in Netflix crime drama Griselda, reportedly has no issues with being linked to the British sporting star 

She is last known to have dated orthopedic surgeon Justin Saliman, but this past October she revealed that she was single again 

The couple first sparked dating rumors in the October, just three months after her divorce announcement, when they were pictured looking loved up in public and even enjoyed a racy clinch at a restaurant in West Hollywood.

Sources at the time claimed she was 'moving fast' and 'falling in love' with him.

Fast forward one year and Vergara was claiming she was 'kind of single' as she gave an update on her relationship status.

Neither party has commented publicly on a split. 

Vergara was previously married in the early 1990s to her high school sweetheart Joe Gonzalez, with whom she welcomed her 33-year-old son Manolo Gonzalez Vergara.

Between marriages, she dated actor Nick Loeb for two years before getting engaged to him in 2012, only for them to break up in 2014.

After their split, the pair became embroiled in a bitter legal battle over two fertilised embryos that they produced through in vitro fertilisation and kept cryogenically frozen.

Hamilton is no stranger to dating an older woman having been in an on-off relationship with Nicole Scherzinger from 2007 until they finally called it quits in 2015 (pictured in 2014)

Vergara was married to Joe Manangiello for seven years until 2023 (pictured in 2017)

Loeb first sued Vergara in 2015 in order to obtain custody of the embryos and bring them to term, triggering a years long feud in the courts.

He began their legal fight in California but then shifted it to Louisiana, where the law regards embryos as separate human beings with their own rights.

She scored a victory against him in 2021 when a Los Angeles judge granted a permanent injunction against him using the embryos without her consent.

The ruling accused his lawyers of 'blatantly engaging in forum shopping,' attempting to get the case into a court that would lean in his favour.

Last year Vergara claimed she and Manganiello split because he wanted to have children whereas she 'didn’t want to be an old mom.'

He denied her retelling in an interview with Men's Journal, claiming the subject of children 'wasn’t inevitably why everything ended,' and added that the divorce took place 'because two people grew apart, and sometimes that happens.'