Russell Brand has been ''quietly dating'' hotel heiress Alessandra Balazs, according to reports.

The 38-year-old former sex addict - who split from Katy Perry in December 2011 after 14 months of marriage and divorced her in 2012 - has been romantically linked to the beauty, the daughter of André Balazs, for several months and has even splashed out by taking her on posh vacations.

A source told the MailOnline: ''Russell and Alessandra have been quietly dating for months now and [have] even gone on holidays together and, he took her to London with him.''

The pair were first spotted together in April enjoying a romantic lunch in Venice, California, and then seen again last month when they flew into London Heathrow airport as the British comedian was due to testify in parliament on the drugs policy.

The former actress has residences in both New York City and Los Angeles, while Russell has set up home in California but the couple regularly fly from coast to coast to spend quality time with each other, although, they are rarely pictured getting cosy as Alessandra tries to avoid the camera.

The source said: ''The and Russell fly back and forth to see each other.''

Before adding: ''They're really cute together - I wish she wasn't so camera shy.''

Alessandra's father André is currently dating Chelsea Handler 38 and people are apparently enjoying the romantic coincidence that the brunette beauty and her dad are both seeing comedians the same age.

A source said: ''It is quite funny that a father and daughter are dating two comedians the same age.''

Russell sparked up speculation that he was involved with a new lover when he revealed that he was trying to be more ''discerning'' about who he sleeps with.

He said previously: ''I'm calming down a bit. I'm a bit less likely to just relentlessly hurl myself into a troth full of parts, you know, sex parts. Now I try and be a bit more discerning about what goes on.''