Blonde actress GWYNETH PALTROW has slammed persistent rumours that she and BEN AFFLECK are still lovers.

The star of SHAKESPEARE IN LOVE puts to rest the rumours that their on-again, off-again relationship heated up on the set of their upcoming romantic drama, BOUNCE. She quips, "First of all my name is pronounced `Gwyneth, not Gweneth' so it doesn't rhyme with Ben which really annoys me! So it's not Gwen and Ben! It's Gwyneth and Ben.

"I can never think about when I start a film what is everybody gonna think of this when it comes out. Whether I'm doing a film with somebody I was once involved with or anything. I mean to worry about people's perceptions of anything is totally anathetical to the artistic process. I mean you can't create anything if you're worried about how people are going to judge it so I don't think about it."

BOUNCE writer/director DON ROOS says, "You know whether they're going out or they're not going out, they always look like they're going out. They are very touchy feely people and not just with each other. Ben is a very affectionate guy; he always has his hands on you. "So we all just assumed that they had a history together and are really good friends. They weren't together during the filming of this movie. They're very close. They're really good friends; they know each other's families. But she was seeing someone else during the filming, they weren't together." (RXM/WN/PDD)

Source: WENN