HAS MARIO LOPEZ BEEN TWO-TIMING HIS “DANCING” PARTNER KARINA SMIRNOFF? THEIR ROMANCE HAS CRASHED ON THE ROCKS!
Just days after Dancing with the Stars’ sweethearts Mario Lopez and Karina Smirnoff confirmed their romance was “on the rocks” she fled Hollywood to party here on the Strip.
He’d been caught two-timing her with a Hooters bartender, 22-year-old Meaghan Cooper from San Antonio, Texas. They’d originally met when she was just 18, but he’d kept in touch by phone until they began seeing each other recently.
Karina turned up on the red carpet at the Asian-themed Tao bistro in The Venetian on a girls’ night out. They started with a dinner of Chilean Sea Bass, Kobe beef and crispy lobster and shrimp dumplings. Then Karina led the gorgeous group upstairs to the Tao nightclub.
She took a VIP table on the dance floor and smiled happily taking photos with fans. “She was really celebrating her new single status,” a spywitness told me. “Her eyes kept open for any good looking men inside the club!” Karina wore a black ABS by Allen Schwartz one-shoulder tiered dress and stayed partying through the early hours dancing to the sounds of DJ Reach and sipping Grey Goose cocktails.
Karina remained silent about the split, but confirmed it’s “officially over.” It’s believed that her boyfriend Mario had been secretly seeing the Miss September 2007 Hooters calendar girl for as long as the past 11 months. Photographs have surfaced showing them together on a trip to New Orleans. “I would never have gone there with him if he hadn’t said the relationship with Karina was over,” she explained. “He said they’d broken up but kept things cordial between them, because of the dancing show.”
Mario and Karina were last seen together three times at the end of last month in Los Angeles, but it all blew up earlier this month when his friendship with Meaghan was brought to light. “I don’t think Mario is one to settle down, with me or anybody else. So I’m not getting serious with him because he can’t be really faithful,” summed up Meaghan. She is planning an acting and singing career and has just filmed a new ABC reality show on location in Tokyo, I Survived a Japanese Game Show, which premieres next Tuesday when we’ll get the first full look at Meghan.
Karina’s spokesperson commented, “This is obviously a difficult time for her but she’s focusing on some very exciting opportunities in her professional life and dealing with the situation as best she can.” Meantime, Mario will be kept busy for the summer starring in A Chorus Line on Broadway in New York through Sept. 7.