AUSTIN POWERS - TROYER'S EX STILL SORE AFTER BREAK-UP

LATEST: AUSTIN POWERS star VERNE TROYER's estranged wife has spoken out about her heartbreak over the couple's split, insisting she was a victim of reverse discrimination.

Model-turned-yoga teacher GENEVIEVE GALLEN claims she was picked on by pint-sized Troyer's little friends, and the actor deserted her when she needed his support the most.

The couple have been fighting a divorce battle for the past year after Troyer refused to recognise their short marriage. In the past week, he has agreed to settle with his ex.

And now the legal battle is nearing a close, Gallen tells American legal show CELEBRITY JUSTICE she feels completely betrayed by the little man she fell in love with.

She says, "I stuck by his side all the time, and I was called a gold digger. I faced reverse discrimination from little people who couldn't believe I actually loved him. When I needed him most at my side, that's when he left."

The couple met in 2000 and wed last year (04). Gallen claims Troyer left her because he felt he wouldn't be taken seriously as a reality TV star if he was married. She adds, "He was told he could not go through with a reality show if he were married."

Troyer is currently starring in VH1 reality show THE SURREAL LIFE and has another project about his life as a little person in the works.

Gallen and Troyer have a court date next month (FEB05), which is when the two sides hope to have the divorce settlement finalised.