Rumours branded 'totally inaccurate'

Alan Davies is to sue over reports he secretly married Julia Sawalha over the new year.

The comic is taking legal action against newspapers that had printed "totally inaccurate stories".

And, in a statement issued by their lawyers, said they wanted their families to know the rumours were false.

The couple have denied suggestions they are even engaged.

Their statement said: "Alan Davies and Julia Sawalha do not discuss their private lives in the media.

"However, they would wish their family, friends and others to know that, contrary to recent reports in a number of newspapers, they are neither married nor engaged."

"Appropriate action is being take against newspapers that have published totally inaccurate stories about them."

Davies, 37,has been going out with Absolutely Fabulous star Sawalha, 35, for two years since meeting on the set of Jonathan Creek.

The Mail on Sunday reported that they were married at the weekend, an d smaller versions of the story appeared in the Sunday Express, the News of the World, the Sunday Mirror and the Sunday People.

Davies has always been fiercely protective of his privacy. When pictures of him with Sawalha at her sister Nadia's wedding appeared in Hello! magazine, it sparked a family feud.

Published: 6 Jan 2004