KATE WINSLET - KATE WINSLET SUES DAILY MAIL FOR £150K OVER EXERCISE CLAIMS

KATE WINSLET SUES DAILY MAIL FOR £150K OVER EXERCISE CLAIMS

Oscar winner Kate Winslet has launched a libel action against the Daily Mail newspaper over an article which alleged she lied about her fitness regime.

The Titanic actress has filed a defamation suit demanding £150,000 in damages over an article entitled "Should Kate Winslet win an Oscar for the world's most irritating actress?", published earlier this year.

In papers filed at London's high court today, the 33-year-old said she was "distressed and embarrassed" by the paper's claims.

The story by Liz Jones - which can currently not be accessed on the paper's website - disputed a quote given to Elle magazine by Winslet in which she remarked: "I don't go to the gym because I don't have time, but I do Pilates workout DVDs for 20 minutes or more every day at home."

Mother-of-two Winslet - who won this year's best actress Oscar for The Reader - said she was especially upset by the very unpleasant and nasty tone of the Daily Mail story.

She added that by claiming she had lied publicly about her exercise routine, the article risked damaging her role as a role model for young women.

As well as seeking a damages settlement, Winslet has also demanded a ban on the article being republished, which the Daily Mail has not agreed to, the BBC reports.

She accepted an undisclosed settlement from Grazia magazine in 2007 after the magazine claimed she had visited a diet doctor; she had in fact been visiting a doctor to be treated for a neck complaint.