Richie Sambora: I Want a Commitment with Denise Richards

By Stephen M. Silverman

11/07/2006 at 02:30 PM EST

Richie Sambora says he hopes his seven-month-old relationship with Denise Richards is the real thing.

Asked by TV's Extra at the CMAs on Monday if he saw himself having a long-term commitment with Richards, Sambora, 47, replied, "Yeah, I hope so. Obviously, we're doing very well right now."

The Bon Jovi guitarist, who has a 9-year-old daughter, Ava, with estranged wife Heather Locklear, also told Extra, "I want to have more children." With Richards? "You never know."

Richards, 35, has two daughters, Sam, 2, and Lola, 1, with her soon-to-be-ex husband, Charlie Sheen.

In an episode of The Ellen DeGeneres Show that aired Monday, Sheen said he was glad Richards is dating Sambora: "At least I knew the guy that she wound up with, Richie," he said. "To know that it's somebody decent and smart and a good parent to be around your children, that's a good thing."

In response, Sambora told Extra, "Charlie, thank you for that!"

Sheen and Richards formerly lived in the same Southern California neighborhood as Sambora and Locklear. Richards and Locklear had been pals, but that friendship is no more.

Asked if he could envision a time when the four of them could sit down together as friends, Sambora said, "Why not? Of course. We're all adults."