Scottish actor Gerard Butler has said he took his mum to his recent premieres to stop people starting rumours about his love life.

Butler, 39, took his mum Margaret to the premiere of his new movie Law Abiding Citizen in Glasgow.

He said to UK TV show GMTV: “Even if it’s the early stage of you dating somebody, or even just a friend who’s a girl and you go: ‘I want to take her down the red carpet.’ It’s not worth the bother.”

Butler added that rumours about his private life are ‘getting ridiculous’ and even if he’s just seen with a woman, the speculation starts.

He said: “Even if I’ve just spoken to them for two seconds. The crazy thing is I’ve had a couple of relationships during this that nobody knew about.

“Meanwhile, they’re speculating about people who I’ve got nothing going on with.”