Roberts jokes about being single again

Roberts appeared surprised at some of the questions

Oscar-winning Hollywood actress Julia Roberts has spoken publicly for the first time about her split from her long-term boyfriend Benjamin Bratt.

Speaking as a guest on the David Letterman show in the US on Tuesday, Roberts, 33, said their four-year affair had come to a "tender-hearted end".

She also denied that the break-up had been caused by her rumoured "involvement" with former ER heart-throb George Clooney.

It has come to a kind and tender-hearted end and my only regret is that the media can't accept that it is tender-hearted and kind

Julia Roberts

Roberts - Hollywood's highest paid actress - and Traffic star Bratt split up in May, although it was only made public at the end of June.

Tabloid theories for the split have ranged from the "affair" with Clooney, through to Roberts' reluctance to marry and arguments with Bratt over work schedules.

Roberts joked with Letterman about being single again: "I'm single. You can say it. I've been practising in front of the mirror."

She added; "I loved Benjamin. He's a good man, he's a fine man. He is, to the exultation of the female single population, not my man anymore.

There have been many theories as to the cause of the split

"Sad but true, not ugly, not because of anybody else that's all there is to it. We're both just two kids trying to find our way in the world."

The Erin Brockovich star Roberts appeared relaxed and happy on CBS's Letterman Show, although she criticised media coverage of the relationship ending.

"It (the media) has to make it messy. It has to be all about me going out with George Clooney, a kind, lovely man but not my boyfriend," she added.

Roberts met Bratt, who starred in TV's Law and Order and in the movie Miss Congeniality, in 1997.

Break-up

Last year, she described herself as "ecstatically happy" in the relationship.

The break-up was the latest in a long line for Roberts, who has been married once, for a year, to country singer Lyle Lovett in 1993.

Before that, she lived with Irish actor Liam Neeson. She was briefly engaged to Dylan McDermott, her co-star in Steel Magnolias.

The she was also involved with Flatliners co-star Kiefer Sutherland.

The relationship ended two days before they were due to marry in 1991.