Romance Rumor du Jour: Mel Gibson Cozies Up to Italian Crooner

Wonderwall, Wednesday, August 22, 2012, 10:44am (PDT)

By Kat Giantis

• What is it that makes a woman think Mel Gibson is viable boyfriend material? Is it his rage blackouts? The way he threatened to bury his last girlfriend in a rose garden? How he allegedly hit her while she was holding their child? Or is it his total lack of remorse for his past actions?

  Whatever the reason, the glowering star has apparently somehow landed another live one, and, like former flame Oksana Grigorieva, she's foreign, considerably younger and an aspiring singer.

  Seems Mel, 56, has been spending time with a woman named Nadia Lanfranconi, an Italian brunette who once modeled for "F Me" jeans, a brand that's designed as elegantly as it's named.

  A few days ago, the actor was snapped rubbing Nadia's shoulders while they dined at a Los Angeles eatery, a move that appeared to make her more, not less, stiff. They also grabbed sushi in Beverly Hills on Aug. 10.

  Conveniently enough, Lanfranconi has a new song due out soon, and last week, she finagled an invite to a music industry party in Los Angeles.

  According to TMZ, Gibson and Lanfranconi "are not in a serious dating relationship," which means she might still have some self-esteem and a sense of self-preservation left.

  Mel finalized his divorce from wife Robyn late last year after nearly 30 years of marriage. She reportedly walked away with a huge chunk of his nearly billion-dollar fortune, and the settlement is believed to be one of the biggest split payouts in Hollywood history.

  Gibson, whose sins include spouting anti-Semitic remarks after a DUI arrest and letting loose his wrath over Grigorieva and screenwriter Joe Eszterhas in taped tantrums, recently shrugged off the idea that Hollywood needs to forgive him, saying, "What did I do, really? It is kind of ridiculous."

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