The Mentalist star Simon Baker’s PDA session with young girlfriend Laura May Gibbs

Announcing his split from ex-wife Rebecca Rigg in January, the Aussie actor has quickly moved on with a much younger woman.

Australian actor Simon Baker has found himself a new, young girlfriend.

The Mentalist star, 51, was spotted packing on the PDA with fashion designer Laura May Gibbs, 36, last month in Byron Bay.

The actor only announced his split from ex-wife Rebecca Rigg, 53, in January.

The couple were married for nearly 30 years.

Baker and May Gibbs spent the day frolicking on the beach, with the young woman held in an intimate embrace in Baker’s arms as they swam around the surf together.

Simon Baker and his young new girlfriend packed on the PDA. Picture: Media Mode

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It was reported by The Daily Telegraphlast week that the TV star had met Laura in Byron Bay, where her fashion design studio is based near his farm in Nashua.

Laura May Gibbs is a fashion designer in Byron Bay. Picture: Media Mode

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May Gibbs is the founder of sustainable activewear label Nagnata, which she launched in 2014.

She established the brand in 2017, now sold by high-end retailers including Net-A-Porter, Selfridges and Goop.

Baker announced his split from his ex-wife Rebecca on January 29.

The pair told People in a joint statement that their three children – Stella, 27, Claude, 22, and Harry, 19 – were their joint focus.

“We remain close friends and our three children will always be the most important focus of our lives.”

According to Fox News, they had actually separated nine months earlier, in April 2020.

Baker and Rigg met when they were both in the Aussie soap E-Street in 1991, they later married in 1998.

Baker had called her the “the greatest woman any man could ever hope to make a life with” in 2015.

Baker split from his wife in January. Picture: Getty Images

Speaking about his marriage to People in 2018, he said: “We’re a team. Most of the time, 99 per cent of the time, we’re really great friends … And I think the most important thing in our relationship is that we’re both able to be ourselves. I think it’s probably the most important thing in most relationships, isn’t it?”

Baker has been one of Australia’s most successful acting exports in recent years, with starring roles in US TV dramas The Guardian (2001-2005) and The Mentalist (2008 – 2015).

Those high-profile TV gigs earned Baker big money: by 2013, he was earning more than $450,000 per episode of The Mentalist, and now has an estimated wealth of more than $50m.