Van Helsing star Kate Beckinsale was shocked when she read salacious gossip about her split from boyfriend Michael Sheen in the tabloids in 2003, because she is actually quite conservative.

The actress was filming Underworld at the time and unexpectedly fell in love with the movie's director Len Wiseman and subsequently left Sheen, making her a prime target for the tabloids.

She explains, "I don't know if you can find another actress in this town (Los

Angeles) who's slept with only two people in a decade.

"Because I had left a relationship, there's a salacious quality to the story that really isn't true."

The star has found a way to reluctantly deal with her new-found celebrity alter-ego adding, "I'm not that person. I sort of stand behind her sometimes at events. It's very strange."