Mauricio Umansky might have turned his dance partner into a real-life romantic partner -- 'cause he's out here looking real cozy with Emma Slater ... or so it seems.
The 'Real Housewives' star -- who's currently separated from his estranged wife, Kyle Richards -- hit up a restaurant in Bev Hills Sunday night with Emma ... who he's sharing screen time with right now during his stint on "Dancing With the Stars" as her celeb plus-1.
Welp, it looks like they're taking their ballroom connection into the outside world -- that is, if these photos on their face are to be believed -- 'cause the 'DWTS' pair walked away from their one-on-one dinner hand in hand, coming across awfully couple-y.
No other signs of PDA between 'em that we can see ... but this feels telling on its own.
Mauricio and Emma have actually been hanging out a lot lately -- dressing up for Halloween as recently as last week. So, yeah ... they've been chummy for a good while now.
Now, our sources with direct knowledge tell us the hand-holding was spurred on by a deep convo the duo had over dinner -- namely discussing their upcoming dance on this week's episode. We're told the theme is "most important year of your life" -- and Mauricio opened up to Emma about why 1996 was so pivotal for him.
Our sources say Mauricio actually revealed a lot to Emma last night on this topic -- '96 was the year he and Kyle married, he was fired from the fashion industry and he pivoted to real estate -- and we're told that, as a result, they felt far more connected and closer than ever ... which, we suppose, explains why they looked like this while exiting.
As for whether this is blossoming into a romance ... the sources couldn't say one way or another.
Of course, there's been tons of speculation about Mauricio and Kyle, whose marriage has come under a microscope this year amid KR's friendship with Morgan Wade.
Kyle has long insisted they're simply partners on a project right now ... as Kyle is producing a documentary on Morgan's life -- but some have still suggested a romance might be afoot.
Meanwhile ... Mauricio and Kyle haven't really cut each other out of their respective lives. They've gone on vacation together with the rest of their family -- and have hung out on a number of occasions for holiday get-togethers and the like. It's been ... interesting.
So, for now, it would appear Mauricio might be ready to move on. Maybe ... or he's just really close with 'DWTS' co-worker.