Hilary Duff is dating again.

A source told E! News: "The pair have been spending a lot of time with each other in recent months, both in the gym and out at various restaurants to enjoy some fine dining, and it seems this budding romance began as a friendship."

The duo were most recently spotted on a dinner date at Pizzeria il Fico in Los Angeles and were seen devouring some cheesy slices while watching an NBA game.

The insider explained: "It was just the two of them, but it was a busy night, so the restaurant was packed and they were watching the game like everyone else.

"They looked like they were having fun because the game was crazy but I didn't notice them acting affectionate of anything like that. They were just watching and cheering with everybody in the restaurant."

It's believed the former Disney star is keen to keep her romance under wraps for now because she doesn't want to confuse her four-year-old son Luca, whom she has with her ex-partner Mike, until she's sure she's found the real deal.

Hilary split from the retired hockey player in January 2014 but insisted at the time that the break-up was amicable.

Despite initial rumours suggesting the duo were trying to rekindle their romance, the singer dropped jaws when she filed for divorce just over a year later in February 2015.

The legal dissolution of their marriage took place 12 months after that and it was agreed Hilary and Mike - who had a pre-nuptial agreement in place - will share custody of their son Luca and neither will pay spousal support.

Meanwhile, although the couple are no longer together, Hilary recently claimed she's still really close to the 35-year-old sportsman for the sake of Luca.

She said recently: "We are good friends and we laugh a lot. And we have a great communication and we share pictures when one is not with Luca. He's great, we are great and we keep on trucking. Mike and I were very in love when we met.

"We both really wanted to get married. I'd been working since the age of 11 or 12, so making that choice at a young age seemed right for me.

Maybe it wasn't, but we spent the majority of our time together really happy."