Hookup rumor du jour: Is Russell Crowe romancing Billy Joel's ex-wife?

Wonderwall, Tuesday, December 11, 2012, 9:17am (PST)

By Kat Giantis

• Some women like their men tall, dark and handsome. Some prefer guys with a sense of humor. And some, like Katie Lee, apparently have a soft spot for high-maintenance creative types. The New York Post spied the former Mrs. Billy Joel cozying up to newly single Russell Crowe in the wee hours of Sunday morning, when they enjoyed a fireside tête-à-tête at Manhattan's Greenwich Hotel.

  "They seemed to be in an intense, flirtatious conversation," relays a spy. "They looked really into each other." A few hours later, the cantankerous Oscar winner, 48, once again rendezvoused in front of the fireplace with the 31-year-old food maven.

  Crowe, who's filming in New York, has been "casually" seeing Lee, according to an insider, although his rep counters, "They are just friends."

  Good enough friends that Katie was on hand to check out Russell's musical skills on Saturday night, when he joined his "Les Miserables" co-star (and fellow Aussie) Hugh Jackman at Joe's Pub to belt out a rousing rendition of "The Confrontation."

  Crowe reportedly parted ways with wife Danielle Spencer in October after nine years of marriage. Word is, she had grown tired of his long, work-related absences from their home and two sons, Charles and Tennyson.

  Lee called it quits with Joel in June 2009 after five years of marriage (his third). She walked away with a very generous settlement from the Piano Man, who is 32 years her senior.

  "I love him very much and always will," Katie told USA Today last year. "We're in the small percentage of marriages that ended happily."

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