All the details on Matt Lauer's new romance with Shamin Abas

By Wonderwall.com Editors 2:35pm PST, Jan 2, 2020

Matt Lauer's friends think Shamin Abas is 'a great match'

Earlier this week, multiple outlets confirmed Matt Lauer has started dating his longtime friend, Shamin Abas, a marketing and public relations executive who owns her own company and spends a good deal of time in the Hamptons, where Matt has lived since he was fired from NBC in 2017 amid sexual misconduct allegations. According to ET, the former journalist, 62, initially wanted to save his relationship with his ex-wife, Annette Roque. They finalized their divorce in September. "Annette has moved on, she has stepped out of this marriage for good and is ready for Matt to do the same," a source tell the outlet. Now, Matt "feels free to date in public," according to the insider. "He has spent a great deal of time reflecting on his role in his downfall and knows the only way to get past this is to start over," the source says. "Shamin has been a longtime friend to Matt and it's no surprise they've started dating. She was there for him throughout this process. Since Matt's separation, he was quietly dating women, but hadn't been serious until now. This romance with Shamin seems to make him really happy. She was one of the first friends to reach out and offer Matt support." According to ET's insider, Matt and Abas, 50, began dating in October. "She has stood by him and isn't letting what's been reported affect their relationship. Matt and Shamin have so much in common. Shamin knows what he's been through and wants to be there for him for his next step in life," the source explains, adding, "Matt seems happier than he's been in a very long time and those friends that have supported him through this believe Shamin is a great match." Matt, meanwhile, has denied all allegations of sexual assault.

Keep reading to see how Demi Lovato's fans are reacting to Wilmer Valderramma's engagement …

RELATED: New celebrity couples of 2019

Demi Lovato's fans are losing it over Wilmer Valderrama's engagement news

Wilmer Valderrama announced his engagement to model Amanda Pacheco on Instagram on New Year's Day — and a whole lot of Demi Lovato's fans are not happy about it. Wilmer and Demi broke up back in 2016 after six years together. Despite a few rounds of rumors indicating their romance was back on since then, they seem to have maintained a friendship without taking it further. As news of the actor's engagement spread on Wednesday, Jan. 1, Cosmo noticed it sparked a storm of angry social media posts, with fans registering complaints that ranged from indignant ("Wilmer dated Demi for 6 years, but gets engaged to someone who been with him for not even a year") to irate. "DEMI WAS W WILMER FOR 6 F—– YEARS SHE WROTE A SONG BASICALLY BEGGING HIM TO PROPOSE AND EVERYTHING AND HE PROPOSE TO THIS GIRL AFTER BARELY A YEAR????" one user posted, adding, "demi hunny this is why you never beg a man for ANYTHING PERIOD." Others simply got a kick out of how personally the whole thing was being taken by some and posted comments like, "demi and wilmer broke up 4 years ago and her stans are so mad he proposed to his current girlfriend LMAOO y'all ok????" Wilmer, 39, was first linked to Amanda, 28, in April 2019.

Kendall Jenner rings in the new year with her ex, Ben Simmons

Looks like the romance between Kendall Jenner and her ex, Ben Simmons, isn't over after all. According to TMZ, the two spent New Year's Eve together in downtown Philadelphia, where Ben was hosting a party at a rooftop restaurant called Attico. The seemingly on-again couple arrived together around 11:30 p.m., according to the website. Kendall, who's long kept details of her love life private, reportedly broke up with the 76ers star last spring after dating him on and off since 2018.

Duchess Meghan and Prince Harry will now only follow one cause each month on Instagram

Duchess Meghan and Prince Harry are kicking off the new year by focusing on "acts of kindness" around the world via Instagram. On Jan. 1, the couple announced they're making a change to their program of highlighting good causes by following a new group of them on Instagram each month. Going forward, they told their 10 million IG followers they'll just follow one cause each month. "Happy New Year!" the couple wrote in a New Year's Day post, sharing a collage of feel-good stories from the Good News Movement. "For 2020 we will be continuing our tradition of highlighting accounts that inspire, and that remind us of all the good that is happening in the world. However, this time we will be focusing on just one account each month. For January, we would like to shine a spotlight on @goodnews_movement. This journalist run-page covers and celebrates acts of kindness and good news in our global community. We hope it brings you joy!" The pair are currently engaged in legal action against the British tabs for the way they've handled coverage of Megha's personal life and her relationship with her father.

Kim Kardashian West reveals North, 6, joined her at the White House this summer

As Kim Kardashian West's interest in criminal justice reform continued to expand in 2019, she introduced her daughter, North West, to one aspect of that world — the White House. A collage the reality star shared on her Instagram Story to mark the end of the year included photos of North, 6, with her mom and grandmother at the White House in July, according to People. The pics showed North wearing a long silver and white dress while hanging out in the Oval Office, sitting beneath a painting of George Washington and getting a kiss from Kim in front of the bay windows behind the president's desk. Kim has reportedly visited the White House on several occasions to discuss prison reform and criminal rights issues,

Eddie Murphy's December 'SNL' episode marks 11-year audience high for the show

Eddie Murphy's highly anticipated recent return to "Saturday Night Live" hit an 11-year audience high with delayed viewing, according to The Wrap. Nielsen numbers indicate once Live +7 DVR playback was factored into the number of viewers for the Dec. 21 episode hosted by the comic, it was the best audience "SNL" has had since Oct. 18, 2008, when Sarah Palin appeared.

Kylie Jenner reveals she broke her wrist in two places

For Kylie Jenner, the end of 2019 involved a number of health issues. The makeup mogul shared photos and videos from the past twelve months with her fans on New Year's Day and in one of them, she was wearing a brace to support her wrist and thumb, according to Elle. The caption to the post revealed she'd "cracked" her wrist in two places in November. She didn't elaborate on how she injured herself, but the accident appears to have happened just two months after she was hospitalized for "severe flu-like symptoms."

Bobbi Kristina Brown's boyfriend Nick Gordon has died

Three years after he was found legally responsible for Bobbi Kristina Brown's death, Nick Gordon has diedof apparent drug overdose. CNN reports the 30-year-old, who was raised by Whitney Houston from the age of 12 and later became romantically involved with Whitney and Bobby Brown's daughter, struggled with drug abuse for much of his life. His attorney, Joe Habachy, told the outlet Nick had recently been trying to stay clean. "My heart is heavy today after learning that my long time client Nick Gordon died …," he said in a statement on Wednesday, Jan. 1. "… While I cannot speak to the specific circumstances of his death, I can say that it's been truly heartbreaking to have witnessed first hand the total devastation that drug addiction has wreaked upon a group of young friends, all of whom were loved and had immense potential." Bobbi Kristina died in 2015. She was 22.

Rachel Bilson may not be dating Nick Viall after all

If those romance rumors about Rachel Bilson and Nick Viall are true, it may be a while before they go public as a couple. After catching the flirty comments between the two on Instagram in recent months, Us Weekly asked Rachel point if the two are dating. According to Us, the actress blushed and would only offer, "I don't want to talk about it." Her close friend Jaime King, who was on the red carpet with Rachel when Us caught up with her, then cut off the conversation by saying. "That's private; we'll keep that private, for now." According to TMZ, that caginess may have been because Rachel is seeing another celeb. Just before Christmas, she was reportedly spotted holding hands with Bil Hader in his hometown of Tulsa. On New Year's Eve, the two were photographed stepping out to pick up groceries together at Ralph's in Los Angeles, according to Page Six.

Tom Brokaw and his wife are safe after middle of the night fire in their building

Tom Brokaw and his wife Meredith Auld are feeling lucky to be alive and grateful for the New York City Fire Department after escaping a large fire in their apartment building in New York City on New Year's Day. "We're safe, and we were very, very impressed with the work of the NY Fire Department," the NBC News correspondent told the New York Post. "It was close to the south floor of our building and it was fully involved by the time they got here." Tom described being woken up after midnight when their dogs started barking. When they looked outside their door towards the elevators they saw firefighters heading their way. The fire reportedly broke out two floors above Brokaw's apartment on E. 79th Street. It was finally contained around 2:30 a.m. "It could've been a lot worse," he said, adding that the event was "a great property loss for the family" that owns the building. Six people were reportedly injured. "No damage to our unit. We got a little smoke," Brokaw said. "Really, it's a cautionary tale about living in the danger of fire. But thank God for the New York Fire Department."