True love or are they really just good friends?

Despite their statements to the contrary, could we be witnessing a genuine Hollywood love story between Gerard Butler and Jennifer Aniston? Tony Earnshaw reports.

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GERARD Butler appeared on the BBC's Breakfast Show earlier this week and, grinning broadly, brushed off questions about his relationship with Jennifer Aniston, his co-star in The Bounty Hunter and, if all the photos and news stories are to be believed, his extremely loved-up new girlfriend.

That was the UK version of events. In America, Aniston appeared on The Late Show with David Letterman and giggled through an interview in which everything was discussed apart from the one topic everyone seems to want to know about: are Aniston and Butler really

an item?

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Generally I agree with the silent majority who care little about these fleeting, transient celebrity romances. Here one day, gone the next, they're mere blips on the entertainment world's radar and matter little in the wider scheme of things.

Yet people who should know better are queuing up to become willing pawns in a manipulative power game that has, at its core, two actors whose performances as nay-saying romantic refuseniks are beyond transparent.

The body language says it all. On the Letterman show 41-year-old Aniston gurned, wrung her hands and twitched when commenting on "Gerry", her 40-year-old "nice guy" co-star and the darkly handsome Scottish hunk who has blazed a trail through Hollywood.

On the sofa at the BBC, Butler trotted out a succession of bland comments. The mask of amiability slipped only when he was asked about the nature of celebrity.

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"It's a bit odd when every single thing you do becomes documented and embellished," he said. "Suddenly you think 'If I really want to avoid that I have to live this really clipped life. Watch everything you say, everywhere you go, everybody you speak to.' That's a bit weird. Everything else, though, is pretty cool."

Of Aniston – he refers to her as "Jen" – he rejects any suggestion of a simmering relationship off screen. Looking at the floor, Butler replies: "No. Just friends. Best friends."

Who are they trying to kid? Dalliances between co-stars have been erupting and fizzling out since the movies were invented. Some soar; others crash and burn. Think Gable/Lombard, Bogart/

Bacall, Taylor/Burton, McQueen/MacGraw, Hawn/Russell, Sarandon/

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Robbins, Madonna/Beatty, Crowe/Ryan... The list goes on. What's equally tiring and more than a little intriguing is the manner in which the obvious attraction between Aniston and Butler is being shielded. Everyone from pliant, malleable TV presenters through to studios and distribution companies are toeing the line. Everyone dances around the question of "Are they?" or "Aren't they?" when the answer is blindingly obvious.

As the UK geared up for the release of The Bounty Hunter this week the all-powerful people at studio Sony offered newspapers and magazines the chance to run a free interview with Butler to plug the picture.

The piece – a paean to the movie, Jennifer Aniston and the delights of modern Hollywood – ran to 1,500 words. Not surprisingly, no-one would take it. The reason was that it had to be used in its entirety, with no portion reduced or edited in any way. Somebody, somewhere, is anxious to preserve a secret that, like a big fat cat, is out of the bag and mewing loudly.

There's a suspicion that Butler has been seduced. Not by Aniston particularly, but by Hollywood. Long domiciled in London, he now calls Los Angeles his home and has fully embraced the lifestyle of La-La Land.

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Doubtless it has its advantages. One of them is being in demand to lead crowd-pleasers like The Bounty Hunter, a skewed buddy movie described by its makers as a subversive and funny take-no-prisoners marital comedy.

Milo Boyd (Butler) was a cop whose career went into meltdown when he and wife Nicole, a reporter played by Aniston, got divorced. Now a bounty hunter, he's offered the assignment of his life: to hunt down the ex-missus, who's jumped bail to follow a story. Naturally he accepts with glee.

"It's very much an action-comedy, and it's a road movie," says Butler. "We're always trying to one-up each other. Either I'm handcuffing her or she's ditching me. I picked up a lot of bruises on this. I kept banging into walls, tripping all over... because you're trying to do it really fast and look like you're pretty impressive."

Listening to the comments each makes about the other is like swallowing a powerful emetic. Butler: "There's just a magic. Our chemistry was great together." Aniston: "Gerry's just funny. That's what's so great about him – he's absolutely disarming. Here comes this gorgeous Scottish actor who you think you should be afraid of, but he's really just a softie."

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Oh-oh. Big hints. From the playgrounds of our past we hear the mocking sounds of kids taunting their pals. Altogether now:

"Jen and Gerry sitting in the tree K-i-s-s-i-n-g! First comes love. Then comes marriage. Then comes baby in the baby carriage. Sucking his thumb, wetting his pants, doing the hula-hula dance!"

They look like they're loved up. They certainly act like they're loved up. And if they are, I hope it's the real McCoy. Only they, their agents, publicists, co-stars and Sony Pictures truly know for sure.

And if it genuinely is the real thing, they're not saying... even if they feel like shouting it from the rooftops for us all to hear.

The Bounty Hunter (12A) is on general release.

Jennifer Aniston

Born: February 11, 1969, Sherman Oaks, California.

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Parents: Actors John Aniston and Nancy Dow. Parents divorced when Jennifer was nine.

Education: Joined the Rudolf Steiner School at 11. Then the New York High School for Performing Arts.

Career: After graduating in 1987 appeared in off-Broadway productions. Her role as Rachel in the smash hit Friends brought many film opportunities. Her films include Marley and Me, Along Came Polly and Picture Perfect. Believed to earn $8m per movie.

Personal life: Married actor Brad Pitt in 2000 but divorced in 2005. Has had relationships since with co-star Vince Vaughn and musician John Meyer. Rumoured to be dating her Bounty Hunter co-star Scottish actor Gerard Butler.

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