Comic and wife part after just a year

Johnny Vegas has split from his wife Kitty less than a year after they married.

The pair, who wed after a whirlwind romance, became parents only two months ago.

Vegas, 32, said he was "saddened" to announce the separation.

The comic married interior designer Kitty Donnelly in San Francisco's City Hall in August last year. They had known each other for five months, after meeting at a London pub.

He famously spurned big-budget magazines like OK! and Hello! to sell his wedding snaps to Viz for £1 - which he claims he never received.

The couple reportedly rowed on the plane back to the UK following their wedding, but at the time Vegas insisted married life was "fantastic"

A statement tonight said: "Michael Pennington (aka Johnny Vegas) is saddened to announce that his marriage to Catherine is at an end and they are in the process of separating.

"At this difficult time, he requests that their privacy is respected. There will be no further comment."

Kitty, 27, gave birth to a 6lb 9oz boy in July, who they named Michael Lawrence Pennington after his father.

Vegas is to release a video this autumn, directed by Stewart Lee and chronicling his sometimes painful appearances at this year's Edinburgh Fringe.

Published: 17 Sep 2003