Justin Timberlake ‘spotted holding co-star’s hand’ on night out

These candid photos of married Justin Timberlake cosying up to new co-star Alisha Wainwright have sparked fierce debate.

Married Justin Timberlake has been spotted in a cosy moment with new co-star Alisha Wainwright during a night out.

Wainwright, 30, was seen touching the knee of the singer — wed to actress Jessica Biel, 37 — before he took hold of her hand.

Justin Timberlake with Alisha Wainwright. Picture: MEGA

The pair was snapped around midnight chatting and drinking in a bar in New Orleans while on a break from filming a movie in which they play lovers.

The pair’s intimacy shocked Timberlake’s fans when the pics surfaced. Picture: Mega

Timberlake and Wainwright hold hands. Picture: Mega

Onlookers were shocked to see him hold hands with Wainwright, and risk upsetting Biel — his wife of seven years and mum to their son Silas, four.

One said: “They were smiling and laughing.

“At one stage he grabbed her hand and rested it on his knee. She then gently started stroking his leg.

“Then he clutched her hand with both of his and was playing with her hands.”

However, a source close to Timberlake dismissed the story in a statement to Page Six.

Alisha Wainwright. Picture: Roger Kisby/Getty Images

Timberlake on the set of Palmer.. Picture: Patriot Pics / BACKGRID

“He was on an open balcony. They were among friends. It was nothing. There is 100 per cent nothing going on,” the insider said.

Timberlake had been snapped wearing his wedding ring earlier in the week but was not seen with it on during the night out.

The pair, currently filming American football drama film Palmer, were part of a small group out drinking at The Absinthe House, on Bourbon Street, in New Orleans on Thursday.

Both Timberlake and Biel have been spotted in public looking downcast since the photos surfaced:

Jessica Biel. Picture: Terma / BACKGRID

Justin Timberlake. Picture: Mega

This article originally appeared in The Sun and was reproduced with permission.