Los Angeles ( CNN ) -- George Clooney told Esquire in September he had no `` aspirations '' to be married with children . That was a month before he was seen with Amal Alamuddin in October . Could Clooney finally have met his match in Alamuddin , a 36-year-old Oxford-educated British lawyer who reportedly shares the actor 's passion for crusading for international human rights ? There is plenty of speculation that Alamuddin may be the woman who converts Clooney -- with two Oscars and a firm hold near the top of Hollywood 's A-list -- from confirmed bachelor to family man . The latest gossip started Saturday with reports from People magazine and the New York Post 's `` Page Six '' column quoting unnamed sources saying the couple are engaged to be married . People source : 'This is real ' The Post headline read : `` George Clooney , eternal bachelor , is engaged . '' Its source said the couple had `` hoped keep the engagement quiet , but they ca n't hide the fact that they are very happy . '' People quotes a `` source with knowledge of the situation '' saying `` George and Amal are trying to keep things very low-key but they also are n't really trying to hide this , it does n't seem . I think it 's like they want the people they love to know that this is real , that they plan on being together forever . '' Alamuddin appeared to be `` showing off '' an engagement ring while dining with Clooney at a Malibu , California , restaurant Thursday night , the Post report said . People reported that Alamuddin `` had a conspicuous ring on her left ring finger . '' Clooney 's representative Stan Rosenfield responded to CNN 's request for confirmation with a very short nondenial Saturday : `` I do not comment on his personal life . '' Clooney watchers may be surprised by an engagement , but the clues were out there . Esquire 's Alex Bilmes interviewed Clooney sometime in late September , just before `` Gravity '' was released in theaters . The article appeared in the magazine 's December issue , which hit newsstands in November . Why is n't he married with kids , Bilmes asked . `` I have n't had aspirations in that way , ever , '' Clooney answered . He was married from 1989 until 1993 to `` No Strings Attached '' actress Talia Balsam . Clooney points to that brief period of matrimony as evidence he `` was n't very good at it . '' `` I was quoted as saying I 'll never get married again pretty much right after IÂ got divorced and then I 've never talked about it since , '' he told Esquire . He said in September that he realized being 52 , unmarried and childless might not look good to the public , but that he should n't `` rush out and impregnate someone . '' But Clooney said he has no `` dislike or distrust '' of being married with children . Alamuddin enters Clooney 's life . While it 's not confirmed when George met Amal , the two were photographed together in London in October . Clooney made an unusual public denial that he was dating Alamuddin , telling People in late October that the girlfriend reports were `` all made up . '' There 's good reason to believe the relationship did not start earlier , since Clooney had just split with Stacy Keibler in July . Although Keibler denied it was because she saw no hopes of a marriage to Clooney after two years , the TV host wasted no time finding a husband . She married entrepreneur Jared Pobre in March . If Clooney 's relationship with Alamuddin did begin in October , it quickly accelerated . She was his date for a White House screening of his film `` The Monuments Men '' in February . `` They were holding hands , '' according to one of the World War II vets who attended the screening . Harry Ettlinger , 88 , called her `` a beautiful lady . '' People quoted another unnamed `` observer '' who said the two were `` stuck like glue . '' People source : 'She 's on his level ' There was no doubt remaining about their closeness in March when Clooney took Alamuddin on an African safari . Photographers caught the cuddling couple watching the wildlife in Tanzania and later vacationing in the Seychelles . If Clooney 's match is to be a lawyer , he 's apparently picked an A-list attorney . A British website ranked `` The 21 Hottest Barristers in London '' last July . Alamuddin was at the top . She `` achieves the seemingly unattainable ideal of contemporary femininity : she is both breathtakingly beautiful and formidably successful , '' the rankers said . A `` source who has worked with Clooney '' was quoted by People earlier this year suggesting why Alamuddin might be different from the long list of Clooney 's ex-girlfriends who 've lasted for a few months or a year or two since his divorce in 1993 . `` She is n't someone who is pursuing a career in acting or entertainment , '' the source said . `` She 's on his level . '' CNN 's Joan Yeam contributed to this report .
Amal Alamuddin , February , first appeared in Amal Alamuddin 's public life in October . The British lawyer was Clooney 's date at the White House in October . Clooney 's wearing `` a conspicuous ring on her left ring finger , '' People reports . She 's `` on his level , '' a source close to Clooney says .