Shilpa Shetty’s publicist Dale Bhagwagar has said that the actress has admitted that she is dating the UK-based NRI entrepreneur Raj Kundra. "I'm not denying it's him (Raj) but I hope when this comes out, it doesn't frighten him off," is all she reveals for now.

Raj, who is a leading businessman in Britain, is also responsible for the launch of Shilpa's perfume S2, which recently topped the charts in UK as well as her new DVD on Yoga. He is also a force behind her super-successful musical tour of Miss Bollywood shows. Raj has recently produced the Jimmy Sheirgill-Kay Kay Menon film Strangers that released a few weeks ago.

When the news of their relationship broke out six months ago, Shilpa and Raj had denied it stating the couple was "just friends". "Things between them have changed since then. The relationship has blossomed and matured with time. They were friends before. Now they make a lovely couple," says Shilpa's publicist Dale Bhagwagar.

Raj Kundra's former wife Kavita had also made accusations that Shilpa broke her marriage by having an affair with him. "Those were incorrect claims. Shilpa came to know Raj only post-Celebrity Big Brother and four months after his wife had parted with Raj," Dale points out.

So is Shilpa planning to settle down in matrimony? The publicist states, "It's too early to speculate marriage. All I can say is that Shilpa is dating Raj. She's just started to know him better. So let's give her some time and not jump to conclusions. But their affair could just turn out to be the biggest love story of 2008.”

Shilpa Shetty has ended a boom year that was replete with the Celebrity Big Brother win, a successful charity drive, an Honorary Doctorate from the Leeds Metropolitan University, the Rajiv Gandhi award and finally two successful films (Life In A…Metro and Apne) in addition to an offer from Hollywood that she turned down for the second film in the new Pink Panther series.

Meanwhile, the actress has decided to bring in the New Year abroad with her family. "Currently, she is on a money splurging spree in Las Vegas and is going berserk with obsessive shopping," laughs Dale. No prizes for guessing whether Raj is accompanying the Shettys.