A British TV presenter has rubbished reports he's dating movie beauty HALLE BERRY, claiming the media's obsession with the rumours scared the actress away.

Steve Jones admits the MONSTER'S BALL star asked for his telephone number after he interviewed her on CHANNEL 4 show T4 last year (03) - but he insists claims she whisked him off for a date in Los Angeles are untrue.

Furthermore, Jones complains tabloid hype surrounding the pair frightened Berry off - and she is now refusing to see him.

The 27-year says, "There have been loads of stories, but Halle Berry is a Hollywood icon and I'm a Welsh bum.

"It was very flirtatious and we had a laugh. Then when we finished the interviews she said, 'That was really fun, leave your number on the way out.' So I gave her my number. That's about it.

"There was a leak to the press from T4 about it, but it wasn't from me. Then the press made up all these stories about me flying 11,000 miles to have dinner with her, which wasn't true.

"It started off as a joke and I was saying to people, 'A gentleman never tells,' then it got out of hand and people were phoning my parents.

"So when she came out to the UK earlier this year (04), her PR phoned up T4 and said she didn't want to see me because of all the press stuff. She wouldn't even let me interview her.

"It's a shame. She's doing CATWOMAN soon and I just want to meet up and say, 'Look, I didn't say anything to the papers.'"

14/07/2004 17:20