Now that the cat's out of the bag, former The Bachelor: Officer and a Gentleman star Andy Baldwin and his new squeeze Marla Maples are apparently at a good point in their romantic relationship.
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"There's so much happiness in my personal life," Maples told OK! Weekly at last night's sixth-season Dancing with the Stars performance show, which Maples and Baldwin watched from the show's studio audience. "Andrew is awesome. He's a great human being. We both love sports; we both love giving back. We're having a great time."
Reports recently surfaced that Maples -- who will compete on CBS' upcoming Secret Talents of the Stars reality series -- and the 31-year-old Naval doctor have been "quietly dating" since he recently returned from a military mission in Palau. The two were subsequently spotted last week frolicking and canoodling in Laguna Beach.
"I've tried to share with him how hard I know it is being in the public eye," Maples, who is Donald Trump's ex-wife, told OK!. "[Our romance will thrive] as long as you keep communication open and don't have any expectations."
Baldwin presented his final rose and also proposed marriage to Tessa Horst during Officer and a Gentleman's pre-taped finale broadcast last May. Horst accepted both the rose and the proposal, however the couple announced the end of their engagement last August.
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Maples told OK! she met Baldwin while participating in a bike ride benefiting Best Buddies with her 14-year-old daughter Tiffany.
"Tiffany and I were biking 15 miles and he was biking like a hundred miles," she told OK!.
Photographs of Baldwin and Maples ice skating and holding hands on December 30 at New York City's Wollman Rink then surfaced earlier this year.
"We were ice skating together over the holidays and if anyone fell, he'd be the first one to go to try to help them up," Maples told OK!. "So that's in his nature -- 'Let me try to help you!' To me, that's an aspect of a person that's worth taking a second look at."
Maples also cited Baldwin's recent trip to Palau -- where she said he "worked with the government to help bring athletic gear and tennis shoes to the children" -- as just another example of his chivalrous nature.
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"We try to lift and inspire each other," she told OK! about her relationship with Baldwin.
About The Author: Christopher Rocchio