Russell and Terri Irwin 'prepare to go public with relationship'

Rumours of a hot romance between Russell Crowe and Terri Irwin just won’t go away.

And now it’s been claimed that the “long-time” friends are finally ready to make their love public, with a source revealing Terri is “head over heels” for the actor.

“Terri is so nervous… but she doesn’t want to hide it any longer,” the insider tells New Idea.

“They’ve been friends for so long and are virtual soulmates at this point, so it was only a matter of time before they took their friendship to the next level.

“You can totally tell they’re into each other and have been for a very long time.”

The pair have known each other for years, but are believed to have struck up an even closer friendship after Rusty’s marriage to Danielle Spencer ended in 2012.

What’s more, the actor is incredibly close to Terri’s daughter Bindi, who he took as his plus one to the Man of Steel premiere in 2013, and both she and Terri joined him for The Nice Guys premiere in May.

And earlier this year, it was claimed that Russell, 52, has been spending heaps of time hanging out at Terri’s sunshine coast $3.2 million mansion, with neighbours claiming they’d spotted him waving from the balcony “half naked”.

Having lost her own husband Steve 10 years ago, the source says they’ve helped each other heal in ways they never expected.

“Russ has been through a lot of pain because of how much he loved Danielle, and Terri relates to that because she’s struggled to find anyone who’s matched up to Steve,” says the friend, who reckons that once they’ve gone public, they’ll start thinking about marriage.

“They’re at the point where they’re ready to move on… a wedding won’t be far away.”

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You might want to hold off buying your wedding hat just yet though, because Terri's rep has shut down the report, telling Be, "Terri and Russell are not dating and are certainly not planning a wedding."

And a source close to Russell adds, "there's no truth to the report."

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