Emma Watson sparks romance rumours with New York date

Emma Watson has sparked rumours she is enjoying a new romance after she was spotted on a date with a mystery man in New York.

The Harry Potter star was seen enjoying dinner with a male companion at Italian restaurant Supper in Manhattan, according to New York Post gossip column Page Six.

"They were laughing and super flirty," a source tells the publication. "There were no seats for them at the bar, and when a woman recognised the Harry Potter star she offered up both her seat and her husband's... Emma politely declined and thanked her. They sat down at a communal table, there was no problem sitting with others."

Emma was last linked to actor Roberto Aguire, but she has remained largely single since splitting from her longterm boyfriend, rugby player Matthew Janney, last year (14).

The actress recently revealed she jetted off to a special retreat in Canada to deal with the breakdown of the relationship. She headed to a centre in the Rocky Mountains, where visitors are expected to take a vow of week-long silence, to gather her thoughts.

"I felt really uncomfortable... even before my relationship ended," she told British Vogue magazine. "I went on a silent retreat because I really wanted to figure out how to be at home with myself."

Emma, who described the split as "horrendous", added, "The boyfriends or partners I've had have generally made me feel really cherished. They've built me up... I certainly haven't found that with doing all that I do or being all that I am, that I've struggled in my love life. I just think it's very patronising towards men. It undermines them."

Since the split, Emma has been busy with acting projects and she has been focusing on her high-profile pro-feminism campaign for the United Nations (U.N.).

She launched the #HeForShe gender equality drive at the U.N. headquarters in New York in September, 2014, and has since become a star campaigner for women's rights.

"Part of me relaxed after I took on that position (for the U.N.)," she previously declared. "It gave me a sense of belonging and purpose. Everything clicked in to place, in a way that it hadn't before. I understood what I'm here to do and knew where to channel all this energy that has been coming at me. I now feel this sense of peace. People say that I'm different since I did it."