New Album, New Man for Carrie Underwood

Oct. 18, 2007 — -- Country-turned-pop star Carrie Underwood releases her much-anticipated second album, "Carnival Ride." She's a young, hot, blond, successful, music artist with a new album on the way, so what's missing from the equation? A hunk on her arm.

Enter hottie actor Chace Crawford, currently staring in the CW's teen drama "Gossip Girl."

Underwood, 24, and Crawford, 22, have been spotted gallivanting around New York City's hot spots, while Underwood prepares to launch a media tour in conjunction with her new album.

Watch Carrie Underwood perform live on "Good Morning America" Tuesday, Oct. 23!

"He's really cute," Underwood recently told People magazine, referring to Crawford. "I've met him, and he seems like a really nice guy. He's got cool hair, he's a nice height and he just has beautiful blue eyes."

Blue eyes that Underwood was seen peering into at the Marquee nightclub last Friday, and then at the Gramercy Park Hotel's Rose Bar the following Saturday night.

"At one point, they were holding hands, off to the side of the table, like they didn't want people to see," said an observer.

It seems as though this country girl's got a hankering for Texas boys, or so suggests her track record.

Underwood was previously linked to Dallas Cowboys quarterback Tony Romo -- and despite the feverish denial by both parties, Romo accompanied Underwood to the 42nd Annual Academy of Country Music Awards in Las Vegas in May 2007.

The alleged couple reportedly split in July.

The secrets and guarded privacy are nothing new for Underwood, who has had a reputation for keeping a low profile since stepping into the spotlight in 2005 when she won the fourth season of Fox's "American Idol."

"Carnival Ride," debuting Oct. 23, is following a really tough act. Underwood's first album, "Some Hearts," went platinum six times over and won three Grammy awards, five Academy of Country Music Awards and four CMT awards.